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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. court — of law
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. court — of a king
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. track — to keep track
  10. board — to get on
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. track — a song
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. track — a path
  18. kick — in football
  19. stock — goods
  20. court — for sport
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. mine — belonging to me

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