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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. board — to get on
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — in music
  9. mark — a grade
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. content — the amount
  12. mark — a trace
  13. board — a committee
  14. content — happy
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. content — videos and posts

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