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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. game — wild animals
  7. board — to get on
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. game — a match
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. row — a line
  18. hand — in cards
  19. board — a committee
  20. degree — an amount
  21. hand — help
  22. content — the amount
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. fork — in a road

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