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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — a match
  8. board — to get on
  9. ball — a dance
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. march — music
  12. board — a committee
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. march — the month
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. game — wild animals
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. march — the month
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — happy
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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