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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bulb — for light
  4. chest — a box
  5. degree — an amount
  6. board — a committee
  7. net — after costs
  8. pop — soda
  9. bulb — for light
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pop — music
  13. net — in sport
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. board — to get on
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cold — an illness
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. chest — of your body
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. net — for catching
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — the Cold War

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