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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. spell — magic
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spell — a short time
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. spell — letters
  16. wind — moving air
  17. field — farmland
  18. cell — in biology
  19. board — to get on
  20. hand — in cards
  21. board — a committee
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. hand — part of the body

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