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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: jam · straw · stick · object · saw · board · cold · degree

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — to get on
  4. object — to protest
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. object — a thing
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. object — an aim
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. straw — dry grass

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