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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. cold — not warm
  4. board — a committee
  5. cold — an illness
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. file — a line of people
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. branch — a division
  10. field — a subject
  11. board — to get on
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. field — farmland
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. file — a document
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. game — wild animals
  19. file — a tool
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. field — for sport

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