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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — rain
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. board — a committee
  7. can — to be able to
  8. row — a line
  9. game — wild animals
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. can — a tin
  13. row — to paddle
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — happy
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. shower — to wash
  21. board — to get on
  22. game — a match
  23. can — a tin
  24. board — a flat piece

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