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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. capital — money
  3. bound — certain
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. clip — a video
  6. board — to get on
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bound — tied together
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bound — obliged
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitch — completely
  23. capital — a city
  24. board — a committee

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