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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. last — final
  5. hand — help
  6. board — a committee
  7. row — to paddle
  8. wind — moving air
  9. board — to get on
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. last — finally
  13. field — for sport
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. row — a line
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. last — to go on

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