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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. content — happy
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. ground — crushed
  7. game — a match
  8. rest — what's left
  9. fall — the season
  10. board — to get on
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — the earth
  15. content — the amount
  16. game — wild animals
  17. ground — a position
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. rest — a break
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. content — videos and posts

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