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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. kid — to tease
  4. board — a committee
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. face — to confront
  7. march — the month
  8. swing — to play on
  9. face — to point toward
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. board — to get on
  12. march — music
  13. deal — to handle
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. march — the month
  18. face — part of the head
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. swing — music
  23. kid — child
  24. swing — in golf

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