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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 116 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: cabinet · degree · board · pop · bore · cold · game · wind

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. game — a match
  4. wind — moving air
  5. board — a committee
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. pop — soda
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pop — music
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. degree — temperature
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. board — to get on
  21. bore — to drill
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — not warm

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