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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 116 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. perch — the fish
  7. board — a committee
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. last — final
  12. board — to get on
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pitch — completely
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. last — finally
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. last — to go on
  23. tube — a container
  24. perch — for a bird

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