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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rash — a series
  4. spring — the season
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. hand — help
  7. board — to get on
  8. branch — a division
  9. board — a committee
  10. rash — hasty
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mug — to rob
  14. shower — rain
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chair — a leader
  17. spring — of water
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mug — a face
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — in cards
  24. branch — of a tree

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