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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. spell — magic
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — child
  10. branch — a division
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. file — a document
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. board — a committee
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cold — not warm
  19. kid — to tease
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. spell — letters
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bowl — a dish

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