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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — to paddle
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. board — to get on
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. bark — to shout
  9. stem — to come from
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hand — help
  13. board — a committee
  14. band — a music group
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. band — a ring
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — a line
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. hand — part of the body

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