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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. cap — of ice
  6. file — a document
  7. board — a committee
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. chair — a leader
  13. roll — a list
  14. march — music
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — from a university
  18. march — the month
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — temperature
  22. board — to get on
  23. roll — a cake
  24. board — a flat piece

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com