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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. rush — hurry
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. degree — temperature
  10. shower — to wash
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. board — to get on
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. wound — an injury
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — rain
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. craft — boats
  24. chip — for betting

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