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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. degree — from a university
  3. present — there
  4. ball — a dance
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a leader
  7. race — the arms race
  8. face — to confront
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. present — a gift
  12. face — part of the head
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. degree — temperature
  16. face — to point toward
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. race — humankind
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. present — the time now
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. race — a contest
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. board — to get on

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