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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: nail · mouse · prune · degree · cold · board · fan · net

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. board — to get on
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. board — a committee
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. cold — not warm
  16. net — for catching
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. net — after costs
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. degree — temperature
  24. net — in sport

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