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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.

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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: cold · march · deal · last · patient · board · sharp · club

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. last — to go on
  3. march — the month
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. march — music
  8. board — a committee
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. deal — to handle
  12. last — finally
  13. club — a group
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. last — final
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. march — the month
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — with an edge

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