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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. can — to be able to
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — the animal
  9. game — a match
  10. can — a tin
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. game — wild animals
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. board — a committee

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