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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  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. board — a committee
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — the season
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. spring — of water
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pound — a weight
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. board — to get on
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — not warm
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — finally
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — to go on
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — final
  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