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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: board · cell · degree · kid · bay · cap

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. board — a committee
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cell — in biology
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. board — to get on
  13. kid — child
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cap — a lid
  18. degree — from a university

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