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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — wild animals
  3. board — to get on
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. current — of water
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. game — a match
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — a committee
  13. kid — to tease
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. current — electric
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kid — child
  21. current — happening now
  22. ball — a great time
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. leaves — of a tree

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