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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — to come down
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. row — a line
  7. stand — to bear
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. board — to get on
  23. row — to paddle
  24. board — a committee

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