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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. march — music
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. degree — from a university
  5. march — the month
  6. court — for sport
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. march — the month
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pass — a permit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. court — of law
  16. drill — army training
  17. board — a committee
  18. degree — an amount
  19. game — a match
  20. board — to get on
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. court — of a king
  24. drill — a practice

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