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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. file — a document
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chair — a leader
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. board — to get on
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. field — farmland
  19. last — final
  20. file — a tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. board — a committee
  23. band — a ring
  24. file — a line of people

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