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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. roll — a cake
  3. capital — money
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ground — the earth
  6. capital — a city
  7. board — a committee
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. ground — crushed
  12. swing — music
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. ground — a position
  16. squash — to crush
  17. board — to get on
  18. swing — to play on
  19. roll — a list
  20. prune — to trim
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cell — a phone

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