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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. sharp — clever
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. band — a music group
  7. squash — to crush
  8. perch — the fish
  9. band — a ring
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. chest — of your body
  13. squash — the sport
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. wake — a trail
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. board — a committee
  18. game — a match
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — wild animals
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a flat piece

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