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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. board — to get on
  4. rush — hurry
  5. board — a committee
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bat — the animal
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a music group
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. mate — a partner
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. capital — money
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mate — to breed
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. mate — a friend
  24. capital — a city

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