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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. drill — a practice
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. board — a committee
  6. drill — army training
  7. current — happening now
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — ground
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — to get on
  13. band — a music group
  14. current — electric
  15. drill — the tool
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. land — to come down
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. current — of water
  24. band — a ring

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