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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. row — to paddle
  3. cold — an illness
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. game — a match
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. board — a committee
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wind — moving air
  14. row — a line
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. board — to get on
  20. game — wild animals
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wind — moving air

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