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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bound — tied together
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — to get on
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pit — in a race
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. shower — rain
  12. pit — a hole
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bound — certain
  15. prune — to trim
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. degree — from a university
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. current — electric
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. current — of water
  23. degree — temperature
  24. current — happening now

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