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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: march · board · sharp · bat · fine · wave · mark · cold

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bat — the animal
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. sharp — clever
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. march — the month
  13. board — a committee
  14. mark — a trace
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fine — all right
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fine — high quality

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