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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. content — happy
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cap — a lid
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. cap — of ice
  11. board — to get on
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. content — the amount
  14. cold — an illness
  15. last — final
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — to come down
  18. ball — a great time
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. board — a committee
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. ball — a dance
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cap — a hat

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