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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: net · ball · rule · degree · land · face · board · drill

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. net — in sport
  3. face — part of the head
  4. net — for catching
  5. degree — temperature
  6. board — to get on
  7. drill — army training
  8. land — ground
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. ball — a dance
  11. face — to confront
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. net — after costs
  17. face — to point toward
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rule — government
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. rule — a law
  24. board — a committee

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