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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. court — of law
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. board — to get on
  7. board — a committee
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. court — for sport
  10. pit — in a race
  11. file — a tool
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. court — of a king
  14. march — music
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. file — a document
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. leaves — of a tree

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