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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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — to drop
  5. spring — of water
  6. bass — the fish
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. board — a committee
  10. track — a song
  11. fall — the season
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bass — low music
  14. vault — a safe
  15. track — a path
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fall — to drop

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