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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: degree · spring · toast · squash · board · date · net · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. spring — a coil
  3. board — a committee
  4. toast — bread
  5. squash — the sport
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. degree — an amount
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. spring — of water
  13. date — the fruit
  14. net — in sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spring — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. board — to get on
  23. degree — from a university
  24. squash — to crush

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