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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. board — a committee
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — of your body
  7. board — to get on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. capital — money
  11. bear — the animal
  12. swing — music
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — a city
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bear — the animal
  18. present — there
  19. game — a match
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. swing — in 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