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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wind — moving air
  9. board — a committee
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. drill — army training
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — the season
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. drill — a practice
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. drill — the tool
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. board — to get 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