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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 120 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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. mug — a face
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — to get on
  8. mug — to rob
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — a cup
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. hide — to keep secret

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