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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. board — to get on
  3. present — a gift
  4. cue — a hint
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a match
  8. cue — a signal
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. board — a committee
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. stock — shares
  18. present — there
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cell — a phone
  24. present — the time now

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