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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. board — to get on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. board — a committee
  10. tube — the underground
  11. court — of a king
  12. tube — a container
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. perch — the fish
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wind — moving air
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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