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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cold — not warm
  3. toast — bread
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cold — an illness
  6. drill — army training
  7. scale — size or range
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. court — of law
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. scale — in music
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. court — for sport
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. court — of a king
  17. board — to get on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — a committee
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. lie — to recline

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