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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. board — a committee
  4. rash — hasty
  5. board — to get on
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. track — a path
  9. rash — a series
  10. track — to keep track
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. last — finally
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. present — there
  18. court — of law
  19. track — a song
  20. file — a document
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — help
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — a gift

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