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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. board — a committee
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. board — to get on
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. deal — to handle
  14. spell — magic
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — letters
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bass — the fish
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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