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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. board — to get on
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. stand — to bear
  9. race — a contest
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rush — hurry
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bark — 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