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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. court — of law
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chest — a box
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. craft — boats
  10. hand — in cards
  11. board — to get on
  12. chest — of your body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. cell — a phone
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — help
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cell — in biology
  24. court — of a king

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