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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: chest · game · key · prune · clip · board · swing · sharp

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. board — a committee
  3. chest — a box
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. swing — music
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. game — a match
  9. chest — of your body
  10. swing — to play on
  11. key — in music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. board — to get on
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chest — of your body
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. game — wild animals
  21. clip — a video
  22. key — for a lock
  23. prune — to trim
  24. game — a kind of play

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