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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. game — wild animals
  3. board — to get on
  4. clip — to cut
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ground — a position
  10. shower — to wash
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. game — a match
  13. clip — a video
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. clip — for paper
  18. board — a committee
  19. ground — the earth
  20. shower — rain
  21. ground — crushed
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fine — high quality

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