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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: board · net · season · degree · cold · file · trunk · game

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — temperature
  5. board — to get on
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. degree — an amount
  9. file — a line of people
  10. board — a committee
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. file — a tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — an illness

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