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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. last — to go on
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. last — finally
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. hand — in cards
  16. board — to get on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. tube — a container
  19. wake — a trail
  20. last — final
  21. hand — help
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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