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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fine · squash · cold · mine · bark · last · board · file

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. squash — the sport
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. file — a tool
  7. fine — high quality
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — to shout
  12. last — to go on
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. last — finally
  16. file — a line of people
  17. last — final
  18. board — to get on
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. file — a document
  21. squash — to crush
  22. fine — all right
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. mine — an explosive

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