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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. staff — a stick
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. court — of law
  7. staff — employees
  8. shower — rain
  9. press — to push
  10. board — a committee
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cold — an illness
  13. court — for sport
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. drill — a practice
  16. court — of a king
  17. staff — employees
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. press — newspapers
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. press — a publisher

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