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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. fine — all right
  3. board — to get on
  4. face — to confront
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. present — the time now
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — music
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. face — part of the head
  15. board — a committee
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. face — to point toward
  18. present — there
  19. present — a gift
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. march — music

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