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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 124 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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. band — a ring
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. band — a music group
  5. rash — hasty
  6. board — a committee
  7. ground — crushed
  8. roll — a list
  9. ground — the earth
  10. mate — to breed
  11. ground — a position
  12. mate — a partner
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. net — after costs
  16. board — to get on
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. cold — an illness
  20. net — in sport
  21. rash — a series
  22. mate — a friend
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a rubber band

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