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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. board — to get on
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rule — government
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chair — a leader
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. shower — rain
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. degree — an amount
  18. capital — money
  19. shower — to wash
  20. capital — a city
  21. degree — temperature
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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