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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 116 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. object — to protest
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — shares
  7. face — part of the head
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. face — to confront
  11. land — to come down
  12. face — to point toward
  13. object — an aim
  14. land — a country
  15. object — a thing
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. degree — temperature
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. board — to get on
  24. cold — not warm

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