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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: board · hand · kid · march · current · can · mine · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. can — to be able to
  5. board — a committee
  6. current — electric
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. march — the month
  9. can — a tin
  10. current — of water
  11. kid — to tease
  12. board — to get on
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. current — happening now
  16. kid — child
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. can — a tin
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. board — a flat piece

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