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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — to get on
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — a law
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a line of people
  9. board — a committee
  10. rule — government
  11. tear — from crying
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — music
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. file — a tool
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. game — a match
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pop — soda
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. leaves — of a tree

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