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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. last — finally
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bore — to drill
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cap — a hat
  8. kid — child
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. game — wild animals
  12. board — to get on
  13. cap — of ice
  14. last — final
  15. bore — to tire
  16. board — a committee
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. game — a match
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. last — to go on
  24. cap — a lid

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