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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bass — low music
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. key — for a lock
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cell — in biology
  8. key — in music
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bass — the fish
  13. key — the most important part
  14. degree — an amount
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. degree — from a university
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. kid — child
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. board — to get on
  24. sharp — exactly

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