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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spring — a coil
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. degree — temperature
  10. board — to get on
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bound — tied together
  13. board — a committee
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — certain
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fall — the season
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. board — a flat piece

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