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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. board — a committee
  5. ground — a position
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. squash — to crush
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. board — to get on
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. ground — the earth

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