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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. chair — a leader
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kid — to tease
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. spell — letters
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — to get on
  9. game — wild animals
  10. track — to keep track
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. track — a path
  14. face — to point toward
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. spell — magic
  17. game — a match
  18. kid — child
  19. stock — shares
  20. face — to confront
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. stock — goods
  24. spell — a short time

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