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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: wind · present · coach · prune · board · ground · stock · kick

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. present — a gift
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. prune — to trim
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. ground — the earth
  7. stock — goods
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wind — moving air
  11. present — the time now
  12. board — to get on
  13. ground — a position
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. prune — to trim
  17. present — there
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. kick — in football
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wind — moving air
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. stock — shares

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