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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. board — to get on
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. face — to point toward
  9. net — after costs
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. face — to confront
  13. content — happy
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. squash — the sport
  17. content — the amount
  18. wake — a trail
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. net — in sport

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