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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.

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: spell · land · degree · fork · file · cold · lie · board

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. spell — magic
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. land — a country
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. land — ground
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cold — an illness
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spell — a short time
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. spell — letters
  19. degree — an amount
  20. board — to get on
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. land — to come down
  23. file — a document
  24. lie — to recline

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