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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chair — a leader
  5. board — a committee
  6. cue — for pool
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. board — to get on
  9. spell — letters
  10. cue — a hint
  11. scale — in music
  12. shower — rain
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bat — the animal
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cue — a signal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. saw — the tool

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