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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — money
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. snap — to click
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — to get on
  14. degree — from a university
  15. shower — to wash
  16. capital — a city
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. board — a committee
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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