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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. board — a committee
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — letters
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. bank — of a river
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bank — for money
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bank — for money
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. board — to get on
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spell — magic
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. wound — an injury
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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