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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — temperature
  5. board — to get on
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bear — the animal
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. bear — the animal
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. face — to point toward
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — a committee
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stem — to come from
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. face — to confront
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. face — part of the head

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