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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. degree — temperature
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — to get on
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cell — in biology
  7. ground — a position
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pop — music
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. pop — to visit
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — crushed
  17. fork — in a road
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bat — the animal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pop — soda
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — from a university

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