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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. board — to get on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. game — a match
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. game — wild animals
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. board — a flat piece

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