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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: board · game · present · chest · tube · degree · coach · spring

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. degree — from a university
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — of your body
  7. game — wild animals
  8. present — there
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tube — a container
  13. board — a committee
  14. spring — of water
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chest — a box
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. present — the time now
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. game — a match
  22. tube — the underground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — the season

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