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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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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: row · field · mark · cell · board · cue · degree · rest

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cue — a hint
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mark — a grade
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. row — to paddle
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. field — farmland
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rest — what's left
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — a subject
  16. cue — for pool
  17. board — a committee
  18. row — a line
  19. rest — a break
  20. board — to get on
  21. cue — a signal
  22. mark — a trace
  23. field — for sport
  24. cell — in a prison

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