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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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Word bank
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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: cold · bark · fan · board · lean · swing · cap · race

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cap — of ice
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. board — to get on
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — in golf
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. board — a committee
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lean — to bend
  13. cap — a hat
  14. swing — to play on
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. swing — music
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. race — humankind
  24. bark — to shout

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