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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: saw · board · cold · coach · row · arm · degree · wake

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. row — a line
  10. board — to get on
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. saw — the tool
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wake — a trail
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. degree — from a university
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. board — a committee
  24. cold — the Cold War

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