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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cell — in biology
  4. board — a committee
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. row — a line
  8. board — to get on
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. degree — temperature
  14. row — to paddle
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — a phone
  24. board — a flat piece

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