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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: board · cold · pit · wake · mate · club · spring · object

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. object — an aim
  3. club — a group
  4. board — to get on
  5. spring — the season
  6. club — for golf
  7. cold — not warm
  8. object — to protest
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. board — a committee
  13. object — a thing
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. pit — a hole
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — a partner
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wake — a trail

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