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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. board — a committee
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. march — music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. content — happy
  12. stand — to bear
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. content — the amount
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. degree — an amount
  18. key — in music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. key — for a lock
  24. pitch — completely

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