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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — the month
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stock — goods
  6. board — a committee
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. stock — shares
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. board — to get on
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. kick — in football
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. march — music
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — the month
  24. stock — a soup base

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