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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. saw — the tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. net — for catching
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. row — a line
  11. net — after costs
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. row — to paddle
  16. saw — the tool
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. degree — from a university
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. sharp — clever
  22. degree — an amount
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. degree — temperature

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