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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. march — the month
  3. chest — of your body
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. ground — a position
  9. march — the month
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — the animal
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. ground — crushed
  14. march — music
  15. lean — thin
  16. chest — of your body
  17. board — to get on
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chest — a box
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. lean — to bend

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