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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. rock — music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. staff — a stick
  9. rock — a stone
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. mate — a friend
  12. drill — the tool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. spell — letters
  16. mate — to breed
  17. staff — employees
  18. mate — a partner
  19. drill — army training
  20. spring — of water
  21. drill — a practice
  22. board — to get on
  23. staff — employees
  24. spell — magic

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