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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 120 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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. fork — in a road
  3. board — to get on
  4. track — a song
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. swing — to play on
  9. spell — a short time
  10. track — to keep track
  11. swing — music
  12. stock — shares
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. swing — in golf
  18. club — a group
  19. stock — goods
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cold — not warm
  23. track — a path
  24. club — for golf

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