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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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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: season · cell · board · straw · spell · calf · degree · chest

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. degree — an amount
  5. board — to get on
  6. degree — from a university
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cell — in biology
  9. board — a committee
  10. chest — of your body
  11. season — in sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. degree — temperature
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spell — magic
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — a short time
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. season — of the year
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spell — letters

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