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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. present — a gift
  3. court — of a king
  4. cold — not warm
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. present — there
  7. content — the amount
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mug — a cup
  11. board — a committee
  12. content — happy
  13. court — of law
  14. present — the time now
  15. field — for sport
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — to rob
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. board — to get on
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — for sport
  24. cold — an illness

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