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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. board — to get on
  3. degree — temperature
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — farmland
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. field — for sport
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. field — a subject
  18. board — a committee
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. degree — from a university
  22. snap — to click
  23. sharp — clever
  24. cold — an illness

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