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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pit — in a race
  4. ball — a great time
  5. degree — temperature
  6. board — a committee
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. court — of law
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. degree — from a university
  20. band — a ring
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. degree — an amount
  23. band — a music group
  24. pit — a hole

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