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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. board — to get on
  7. track — to keep track
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — of water
  12. track — a song
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — not warm
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — the season
  21. track — a path
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. wave — of the sea

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