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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 124 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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. fine — high quality
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. board — to get on
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — ground
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spring — a coil
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spring — the season
  15. land — to come down
  16. fine — all right
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. court — of law
  19. prune — to trim
  20. perch — the fish
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. land — a country
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. spring — of water

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