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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 124 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. cold — an illness
  4. board — to get on
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rock — a stone
  7. ground — a position
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. key — in music
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mark — a grade
  12. pound — a weight
  13. key — for a lock
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ground — crushed
  16. key — the most important part
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. degree — temperature
  20. board — a committee
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. mark — a trace
  23. rock — music
  24. degree — an amount

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