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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: board · game · mark · chest · degree · bear · court · clip

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. mark — a trace
  5. chest — of your body
  6. board — a committee
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. bear — the animal
  9. board — to get on
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — from a university
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bear — the animal
  15. court — of a king
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — a match
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. mark — a grade
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. clip — a video

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