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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. cell — in biology
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — to get on
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. press — newspapers
  12. band — a music group
  13. file — a document
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a ring
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spell — a short time
  19. file — a tool
  20. spell — letters
  21. press — a publisher
  22. spell — magic
  23. press — to push
  24. capital — a city

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