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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · board · tear · swing · stock · court

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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. court — of a king
  4. swing — to play on
  5. stock — shares
  6. swing — in golf
  7. chest — a box
  8. board — to get on
  9. swing — music
  10. court — for sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stock — goods
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of law

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