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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — to get on
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. pop — music
  6. rock — a stone
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. last — final
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rock — music
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — help
  21. last — finally
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pop — soda

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