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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. net — in sport
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. net — after costs
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. kid — child
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bear — the animal
  10. march — the month
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. net — for catching
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. shower — rain
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. kid — to tease
  18. board — a committee
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. march — the month
  21. bear — the animal
  22. march — music
  23. game — wild animals
  24. roll — a list

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