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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. board — to get on
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. shower — to wash
  8. board — a committee
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chest — a box
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spell — a short time
  17. degree — from a university
  18. key — in music
  19. shower — rain
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — letters
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spell — magic

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