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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. tear — to rip
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. board — to get on
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. tube — a container
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cold — not warm
  22. court — of law
  23. tear — from crying
  24. branch — a division

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