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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. board — to get on
  3. court — of law
  4. degree — from a university
  5. swing — in golf
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. degree — temperature
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bore — to tire
  12. cold — not warm
  13. lean — to bend
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — an amount
  16. perch — the fish
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. swing — to play on
  19. lean — thin
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. swing — music
  22. bore — to drill
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. court — of a king

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