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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: sharp · jam · chest · cold · board · mark · kid · game

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. mark — a trace
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. game — a match
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. board — a committee
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. board — to get on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chest — a box
  14. cold — not warm
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kid — child
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mark — a grade

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