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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. mine — for digging
  5. drill — a practice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. board — to get on
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. spring — the season
  10. lean — to bend
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. drill — the tool
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. lean — thin
  20. spring — of water
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. drill — army training
  23. chest — a box
  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