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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. degree — temperature
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. mine — for digging
  5. court — of law
  6. lean — thin
  7. net — in sport
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. last — final
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — music
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. net — for catching
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. net — after costs
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. board — to get on
  22. swing — in golf
  23. board — a committee
  24. last — finally

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