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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. perch — the fish
  3. shower — rain
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. game — a match
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. field — farmland
  10. rest — what's left
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. board — to get on
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rest — a break
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. field — for sport
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bank — of a river

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