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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. hand — in cards
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — to get on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stand — to bear
  17. squash — to crush
  18. kid — to tease
  19. club — for dancing
  20. cold — not warm
  21. club — a group
  22. squash — the sport
  23. hand — help
  24. club — for golf

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