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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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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — a trace
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. chest — of your body
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. board — a committee
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. degree — temperature
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. branch — a division
  21. chest — a box
  22. degree — from a university
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. cell — in biology

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