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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.

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: degree · board · mine · cold · fan · foot · track · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — an illness
  3. foot — a measure
  4. board — to get on
  5. track — to keep track
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. degree — an amount
  17. track — a path
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. track — a song
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — temperature
  24. board — a committee

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