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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: sharp · present · bark · board · wind · degree · mine · pop

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. wind — moving air
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. degree — from a university
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. board — to get on
  10. sharp — clever
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. board — a committee
  13. present — the time now
  14. bark — to shout
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. degree — temperature
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. present — a gift
  24. wind — to turn a key

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