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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 120 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: land · drill · stand · chest · perch · ball · spring · board

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. ball — a dance
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. drill — a practice
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. land — to come down
  7. stand — to bear
  8. drill — army training
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — a country
  11. board — to get on
  12. spring — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. drill — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ball — a great time
  18. perch — the fish
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. board — a committee
  22. spring — of water
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. ball — a round shape

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