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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. board — a committee
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rule — government
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. last — finally
  12. spring — of water
  13. spell — magic
  14. saw — the tool
  15. board — to get on
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — moving air
  19. last — to go on
  20. saw — the tool
  21. last — final
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rule — a law
  24. wind — to turn a key

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