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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. file — a tool
  4. rest — what's left
  5. race — a contest
  6. file — a line of people
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. board — to get on
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cell — in biology
  11. rest — what's left
  12. swing — in golf
  13. rest — a break
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. race — the arms race
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. swing — to play on
  20. file — a document
  21. swing — music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. race — humankind
  24. cell — in a prison

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