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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — to get on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. board — a committee
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — not warm
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — an amount
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fall — to drop
  24. prune — to trim

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