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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. board — a committee
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. spell — magic
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. hand — help
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. board — to get on
  10. land — ground
  11. spell — letters
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. pound — a weight
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. hand — in cards
  18. land — to come down
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. sharp — clever

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