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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rash — hasty
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — soda
  8. ground — crushed
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pop — music
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. game — a match
  16. game — wild animals
  17. board — a committee
  18. craft — a skill
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. ground — a position
  23. rash — a series
  24. board — a flat piece

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