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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: staff · cold · march · net · row · object · charge · board

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — the month
  5. charge — a price
  6. staff — employees
  7. net — for catching
  8. object — an aim
  9. object — a thing
  10. board — to get on
  11. net — in sport
  12. staff — a stick
  13. charge — electricity
  14. cold — an illness
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. board — a committee
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. staff — employees
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. charge — in control

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