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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 · ground · spell · squash · wake · capital · mate · file

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mate — a friend
  4. spell — a short time
  5. ground — crushed
  6. mate — to breed
  7. squash — to crush
  8. spell — letters
  9. capital — a city
  10. file — a line of people
  11. ground — a position
  12. file — a tool
  13. board — a committee
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — the earth
  18. board — to get on
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. mate — a partner
  21. capital — money
  22. wake — a trail
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. file — a document

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