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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.

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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: pit · cold · rock · drill · wave · ball · march · board

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rock — music
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. march — the month
  7. ball — a great time
  8. drill — army training
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. pit — a hole
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. drill — a practice
  13. march — the month
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — to get on
  20. march — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rock — a stone
  23. ball — a dance
  24. rock — to move gently

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