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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. degree — from a university
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. board — to get on
  5. degree — temperature
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. rash — hasty
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. board — a committee
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bore — to tire
  15. scale — in music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rash — a series
  19. bat — the animal
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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