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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: hand · wound · lie · board · pitch · chair · ball · mine

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chair — a leader
  9. ball — a great time
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pitch — completely
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. lie — to recline
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — in cards
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. board — to get on
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. hand — help

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