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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 124 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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. board — a committee
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mine — for digging
  10. board — to get on
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. content — the amount
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — wild animals
  22. content — happy
  23. plane — a tool
  24. game — a match

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