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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. degree — temperature
  3. chair — a leader
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — a stone
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. board — a committee
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — employees
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. staff — a stick
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — money
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. board — to get on

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