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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. mine — for digging
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. board — to get on
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. board — a committee
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. sharp — clever
  17. degree — temperature
  18. vault — a safe
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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