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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: chest · board · rest · saw · last · shower · pitcher · face

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a committee
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — part of the head
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. face — to confront
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rest — a break
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. last — finally
  16. rest — what's left
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. chest — a box
  21. shower — rain
  22. saw — the tool
  23. rest — what's left
  24. saw — the tool

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