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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. board — a committee
  3. capital — money
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. club — for golf
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. prune — to trim
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. bat — the animal
  12. club — a group
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. lie — to recline
  15. capital — a city
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. swing — in golf
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. club — for dancing

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