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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.

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: tear · board · rest · degree · roll · tube · spell · game

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. spell — letters
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — a short time
  5. tear — to rip
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. roll — a cake
  11. board — to get on
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. tube — a container
  15. board — a committee
  16. rest — what's left
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tube — the underground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. spell — magic
  22. game — a match
  23. roll — a list
  24. rest — what's left

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