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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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. stem — to come from
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. current — happening now
  5. board — to get on
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. spring — the season
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. spring — a coil
  10. current — electric
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. current — of water
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. board — a committee
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bound — certain
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — of water
  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