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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. branch — a division
  4. band — a ring
  5. board — a committee
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. band — a music group
  9. firm — a company
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. board — to get on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. firm — decided
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. firm — steady
  22. drill — army training
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. drill — the tool

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