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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cap — a lid
  5. season — in sport
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. season — of the year
  9. cap — of ice
  10. bark — to shout
  11. degree — temperature
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cap — a hat
  18. field — for sport
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. board — to get on
  22. rash — a series
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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