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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.

Make a worksheet

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: game · plane · degree · bound · calf · stick · capital · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bound — tied together
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bound — certain
  15. capital — a city
  16. bound — obliged
  17. plane — a tool
  18. row — a line
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — an amount
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. row — to paddle
  24. game — a match

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