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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: chair · board · drill · bat · shower · face · branch · racket

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. drill — the tool
  7. board — to get on
  8. face — to confront
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — the animal
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. face — part of the head
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. board — a committee
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — a division
  18. drill — a practice
  19. shower — rain
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. face — to point toward
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. drill — army training
  24. racket — for tennis

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