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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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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. board — to get on
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a tool
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. degree — an amount
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. season — of the year
  14. board — a committee
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. file — a document
  17. spell — a short time
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. season — in sport
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. file — a line of people

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