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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. board — a committee
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. hand — help
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — a phone
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. bound — obliged
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bound — certain
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. fork — in a road
  24. board — to get on

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