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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. content — happy
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. content — the amount
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bound — certain
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — a position
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bound — obliged
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. saw — the tool
  22. board — to get on
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ground — the earth

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