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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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Word bank
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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: hand · board · game · degree · last · cabinet · clip · staff

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. board — a committee
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. staff — employees
  15. game — a match
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — a video
  18. staff — employees
  19. degree — an amount
  20. last — final
  21. last — finally
  22. degree — temperature
  23. staff — a stick
  24. last — to go on

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