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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pit — in a race
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. capital — a city
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. board — a committee
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. board — to get on
  10. game — a match
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. pit — a hole
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. game — wild animals
  21. shower — rain
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. capital — money

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