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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. row — to paddle
  3. kick — in football
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. degree — from a university
  6. content — happy
  7. file — a line of people
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. degree — temperature
  11. file — a tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. deal — to handle
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. game — a match
  17. degree — an amount
  18. content — the amount
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. file — a document
  22. row — a line
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. content — videos and posts

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