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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: march · board · rest · mug · cell · tube · snap · court

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. board — a committee
  3. cell — a phone
  4. court — for sport
  5. rest — a break
  6. tube — the underground
  7. court — of law
  8. tube — a container
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. board — to get on
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. mug — a cup
  14. rest — what's left
  15. march — the month
  16. court — of a king
  17. mug — to rob
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. march — music
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mug — a face
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. march — the month
  24. rest — what's left

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