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

Word bank: chest · board · squash · bank · snap · wake · file · march

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. board — to get on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. squash — the sport
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bank — for money
  8. march — the month
  9. wake — a trail
  10. bank — for money
  11. file — a document
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. chest — a box
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. file — a tool
  21. bank — of a river
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chest — of your body
  24. file — a line of people

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