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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. net — for catching
  7. ground — the earth
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. board — to get on
  10. net — in sport
  11. mine — for digging
  12. board — a committee
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. ground — a position
  16. bass — low music
  17. ground — crushed
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bass — the fish
  21. squash — to crush
  22. net — after costs
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mine — belonging to me

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