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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. stand — to bear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. board — to get on
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. capital — a city
  13. mark — a grade
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mark — a trace
  20. sharp — clever
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — crushed
  23. capital — money
  24. ground — the earth

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