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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. court — of a king
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bark — to shout
  8. present — the time now
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — for betting
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. board — to get on
  16. board — a committee
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. chip — to eat
  23. present — a gift
  24. cold — an illness

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