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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. board — to get on
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. scale — size or range
  6. kick — in football
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. scale — in music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lie — to recline
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. snap — to click
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. cold — not warm

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