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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. branch — a division
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. degree — temperature
  6. board — to get on
  7. capital — money
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — the animal
  11. ground — the earth
  12. capital — a city
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. degree — an amount
  19. race — humankind
  20. degree — from a university
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. ground — crushed
  24. bat — for baseball

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