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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. land — to come down
  3. cue — for pool
  4. march — music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chest — of your body
  7. key — the most important part
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — ground
  12. cue — a signal
  13. chest — a box
  14. wind — moving air
  15. board — a committee
  16. cue — a hint
  17. key — in music
  18. march — the month
  19. land — a country
  20. key — for a lock
  21. march — the month
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. board — to get on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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