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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chest — of your body
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. chest — a box
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mate — a friend
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — a partner
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chest — of your body
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. board — a committee
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. board — to get on
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — an illness
  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