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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. board — a committee
  3. net — for catching
  4. board — to get on
  5. wound — an injury
  6. degree — an amount
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. degree — temperature
  10. spring — of water
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rash — hasty
  15. spring — the season
  16. net — in sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. degree — from a university
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. net — after costs
  24. spring — a coil

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