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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. rest — what's left
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. race — humankind
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. date — the fruit
  12. race — the arms race
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. wind — moving air
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. board — to get on
  20. wind — moving air
  21. race — a contest
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. kid — to tease
  24. coach — a trainer

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