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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. face — part of the head
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. rash — a series
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. bat — the animal
  9. band — a music group
  10. ground — a position
  11. board — a committee
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. swing — in golf
  16. board — to get on
  17. ground — crushed
  18. face — to confront
  19. ground — the earth
  20. band — a ring
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rash — hasty
  24. face — to point toward

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