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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. net — for catching
  3. mate — a friend
  4. board — a committee
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. swing — music
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — to breed
  11. pop — soda
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — to get on
  14. pop — to visit
  15. net — in sport
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mine — for digging
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. swing — in golf
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cold — an illness
  23. swing — to play on
  24. net — after costs

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