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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. staff — employees
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. capital — a city
  4. mate — to breed
  5. board — a committee
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. ground — the earth
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cell — in biology
  14. staff — a stick
  15. ground — a position
  16. capital — money
  17. board — to get on
  18. mate — a partner
  19. ground — crushed
  20. mate — a friend
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. staff — employees
  23. degree — from a university
  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