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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. mate — a partner
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rash — a series
  5. board — to get on
  6. mate — a friend
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. ground — the earth
  9. capital — a city
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. ground — a position
  13. mate — to breed
  14. board — a committee
  15. shower — to wash
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rash — hasty
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. board — a flat piece

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