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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 116 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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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. band — a rubber band
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. object — an aim
  6. spring — of water
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. spring — a coil
  9. face — to point toward
  10. band — a music group
  11. board — a committee
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spring — the season
  14. band — a ring
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. object — to protest
  17. sharp — clever
  18. face — to confront
  19. object — a thing
  20. degree — from a university
  21. face — part of the head
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mine — for digging

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