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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · board · race · mate · mine · fall · hand · game

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. race — a contest
  4. board — to get on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. land — a country
  7. mate — a friend
  8. board — a committee
  9. hand — in cards
  10. fall — the season
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mine — for digging
  13. land — ground
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fall — to drop
  17. hand — help
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. race — humankind
  22. mate — to breed
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. land — to come down

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