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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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. mate — a friend
  4. cell — in biology
  5. race — a contest
  6. board — to get on
  7. chest — of your body
  8. vault — a safe
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — child
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mate — to breed
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mate — a partner
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. chest — a box
  22. cell — a phone
  23. race — humankind
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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