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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. drill — a practice
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. drill — army training
  17. ball — a great time
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. board — to get on
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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