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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. capital — money
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bass — the fish
  9. capital — a city
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bass — low music
  12. hand — help
  13. cell — a phone
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. scale — in music
  16. board — to get on
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hand — in cards
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wind — moving air
  23. scale — for weighing
  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