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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cold — not warm
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. last — finally
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. board — to get on
  9. last — to go on
  10. board — a committee
  11. date — the fruit
  12. saw — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. game — a match
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. last — final
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. wind — moving air

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