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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 120 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: board · game · content · ball · rule · mate · cold · march

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. march — music
  3. rule — government
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — to breed
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. board — a committee
  10. game — wild animals
  11. march — the month
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mate — a friend
  14. content — happy
  15. ball — a dance
  16. march — the month
  17. game — a match
  18. ball — a great time
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. board — to get on
  21. content — the amount
  22. mate — a partner
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. cold — the Cold War

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