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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ground — the earth
  5. spell — magic
  6. rest — what's left
  7. board — to get on
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cold — not warm
  10. game — a match
  11. board — a committee
  12. ground — a position
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — an illness
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spell — letters
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. spell — a short time
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. board — a flat piece

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