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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: ball · hand · wave · degree · bass · net · content · board

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. net — for catching
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — happy
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ball — a dance
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. net — after costs
  15. content — the amount
  16. degree — an amount
  17. hand — help
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. bass — low music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hand — in cards
  23. board — to get on
  24. net — in sport

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