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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 124 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 bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fine — all right
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pop — to visit
  6. board — a committee
  7. bound — tied together
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. pop — soda
  10. bound — certain
  11. board — to get on
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pop — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. fine — high quality
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bound — obliged

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