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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. fine — high quality
  3. shower — to wash
  4. board — to get on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. fine — all right
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. lean — to bend
  13. shower — rain
  14. board — a committee
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. season — in sport
  17. lean — thin
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. season — of the year
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pitch — completely
  24. cold — not warm

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