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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. craft — boats
  4. craft — a skill
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a document
  9. degree — from a university
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. game — a match
  12. degree — temperature
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. board — to get on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rule — a law
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. tear — to rip
  19. chair — a leader
  20. degree — an amount
  21. board — a committee
  22. file — a tool
  23. tear — from crying
  24. game — wild animals

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