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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bass — the fish
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. band — a music group
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. bass — low music
  8. game — a match
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. file — a tool
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. file — a document
  17. board — a committee
  18. file — a line of people

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