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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. content — the amount
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. firm — a company
  5. rest — what's left
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — an illness
  8. firm — steady
  9. kid — to tease
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cell — a phone
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. board — to get on
  22. kid — child
  23. cold — not warm
  24. firm — decided

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