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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. board — a committee
  3. squash — to crush
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. land — to come down
  6. spring — a coil
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — of water
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spring — the season
  12. hand — help
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. can — to be able to
  15. squash — the sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. land — a country
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a leader
  20. land — ground
  21. can — a tin
  22. board — to get on
  23. march — music
  24. squash — the vegetable

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