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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. squash — to crush
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. club — for dancing
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wind — moving air
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cold — not warm
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. club — for golf
  17. last — final
  18. mate — to breed
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. club — a group
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — an illness

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