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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 124 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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — a practice
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — a contest
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. spring — a coil
  11. perch — the fish
  12. scale — in music
  13. ball — a dance
  14. spring — of water
  15. board — to get on
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a great time
  18. race — humankind
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. prune — to trim
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. spring — the season
  23. scale — size or range
  24. race — the arms race

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