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

Word bank: shower · board · bay · saw · chest · band · wind · file

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. shower — to wash
  4. band — a music group
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. file — a tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a ring
  17. board — a committee
  18. file — a line of people
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. chest — a box
  21. file — a document
  22. saw — the tool
  23. board — to get on
  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