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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 · drill · board · straw · branch · fork · court · roll

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. branch — a division
  3. court — of a king
  4. chest — of your body
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. roll — a list
  7. drill — a practice
  8. fork — in a road
  9. drill — army training
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. court — of law
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. chest — a box
  14. board — a committee
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. board — to get on
  17. roll — a cake
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. court — for sport
  22. chest — of your body
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. straw — a straw man

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