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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. vault — a safe
  11. board — a committee
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. board — to get on
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. capital — money
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — a big letter

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