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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. craft — boats
  3. rest — what's left
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chair — a leader
  12. craft — a skill
  13. degree — an amount
  14. file — a tool
  15. rest — a break
  16. shower — rain
  17. board — a committee
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — to shout
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. board — to get on
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. shower — to wash
  24. file — a document

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