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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. craft — a skill
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — a committee
  5. wind — moving air
  6. craft — boats
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. press — a publisher
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — help
  14. wind — moving air
  15. press — to push
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. press — newspapers
  21. hand — in cards
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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