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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. capital — a city
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. board — to get on
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. degree — temperature
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. chest — a box
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. degree — from a university
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. rock — music
  22. capital — money
  23. rock — a stone
  24. chest — of your body

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