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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. spring — of water
  3. mug — a face
  4. track — a song
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. mug — a cup
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. lean — to bend
  10. race — the arms race
  11. land — to come down
  12. spring — a coil
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. mug — to rob
  15. lean — thin
  16. track — to keep track
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. track — a path
  23. spring — the season
  24. board — to get on

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