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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. degree — an amount
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hand — help
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. staff — a stick
  8. board — to get on
  9. capital — money
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. staff — employees
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. staff — employees
  15. capital — a city
  16. swing — in golf
  17. hand — in cards
  18. board — a committee
  19. swing — to play on
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. degree — from a university
  24. swing — music

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