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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. board — to get on
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. scale — size or range
  5. board — a committee
  6. march — the month
  7. bear — the animal
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — in music
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. wound — an injury

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