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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: sharp · content · branch · chest · row · roll · board · hand

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. hand — in cards
  3. content — the amount
  4. board — a committee
  5. chest — of your body
  6. sharp — clever
  7. roll — a cake
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. content — happy
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. hand — help
  18. row — a line
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. chest — a box
  21. board — to get on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. branch — of a tree

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