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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. game — wild animals
  6. board — to get on
  7. board — a committee
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wound — an injury
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. deal — to handle
  22. pitch — completely
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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