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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. march — music
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. spell — letters
  9. court — for sport
  10. board — to get on
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — army training
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. chest — a box
  18. spell — magic
  19. march — the month
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. wake — a trail
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spell — a short time

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