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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. firm — steady
  3. capital — a city
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. firm — a company
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. game — wild animals
  8. board — to get on
  9. land — to come down
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. degree — from a university
  12. capital — money
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. game — a match
  15. cell — a phone
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. firm — decided
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cell — in biology
  24. lash — to lash out

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