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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. capital — money
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. tear — from crying
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. tear — to rip
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. game — a match
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. capital — a city
  13. tube — the underground
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. game — wild animals
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. board — to get on
  20. tube — a container
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tube — in a tire

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