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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: shower · chest · mine · club · net · board · last · bound

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — a group
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. board — to get on
  8. club — for golf
  9. bound — tied together
  10. last — final
  11. net — for catching
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. net — after costs
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — a committee
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bound — certain
  20. shower — rain
  21. chest — a box
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bound — obliged
  24. net — in sport

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