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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 120 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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. file — a tool
  5. board — a committee
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. file — a document
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. track — to keep track
  17. track — a path
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. track — a song
  20. saw — the tool
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — help
  24. file — a line of people

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