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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. stock — shares
  4. court — for sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. board — to get on
  9. pop — music
  10. hand — in cards
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. hand — help
  13. court — of a king
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — soda
  17. stock — goods
  18. court — of law

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