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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 · degree · board · lean · hand · bore · bat · land

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. land — a country
  5. bore — to drill
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. hand — help
  8. degree — temperature
  9. land — to come down
  10. hand — in cards
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lean — thin
  16. land — ground
  17. board — to get on
  18. board — a committee
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. row — a line
  24. degree — from a university

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