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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. staff — employees
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. board — to get on
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. last — final
  8. board — a committee
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. last — finally
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. last — to go on
  19. capital — a city
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. capital — money
  22. cell — in biology
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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