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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. last — final
  4. game — a match
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. last — to go on
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — help
  11. last — finally
  12. board — a committee
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. game — wild animals
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. lean — to bend
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. board — to get on
  21. hand — in cards
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a document

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