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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. shower — to wash
  5. sharp — clever
  6. board — a committee
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. shower — rain
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. lie — to recline
  13. cold — not warm
  14. board — to get on
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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