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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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. board — to get on
  9. squash — the sport
  10. capital — money
  11. fall — the season
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. squash — to crush
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fall — to drop
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fall — to drop

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