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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 120 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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ball — a dance
  5. club — a group
  6. hand — help
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. squash — the sport
  11. game — wild animals
  12. degree — an amount
  13. game — a match
  14. ball — a great time
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. board — to get on
  20. club — for golf
  21. degree — from a university
  22. club — for dancing
  23. kid — child
  24. hand — part of the body

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