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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. board — to get on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ground — the earth
  5. present — there
  6. court — for sport
  7. last — final
  8. present — a gift
  9. file — a line of people
  10. last — to go on
  11. court — of a king
  12. ground — a position
  13. file — a tool
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. season — of the year
  16. file — a document
  17. ground — crushed
  18. present — the time now
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — not warm
  21. board — a committee
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. court — of law
  24. season — in sport

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