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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. march — music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. board — to get on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. march — the month
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. march — the month
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cold — an illness
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. shower — rain
  22. pitch — completely
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. board — a committee

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