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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chip — for betting
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. last — to go on
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. roll — a cake
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wind — moving air
  18. roll — a list
  19. last — final
  20. bat — the animal
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. board — to get on
  23. last — finally
  24. wind — moving air

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