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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 120 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: board · court · scale · tube · row · degree · tear · net

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. degree — temperature
  3. court — for sport
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — the underground
  6. board — a committee
  7. net — in sport
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. row — a line
  11. tear — to rip
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. scale — size or range
  14. net — for catching
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tear — from crying
  17. scale — in music
  18. degree — from a university
  19. court — of a king
  20. net — after costs
  21. tear — from crying
  22. court — of law
  23. degree — an amount
  24. tube — a container

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