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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: row · mark · bass · cold · board · racket · roll · degree

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — low music
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bass — the fish
  11. mark — a trace
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. degree — an amount
  17. row — to paddle
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. board — to get on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. roll — a list
  23. roll — a cake
  24. mark — a grade

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