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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: content · wound · chair · hand · board · track · straw · sharp

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. board — a committee
  4. content — happy
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wound — an injury
  12. hand — in cards
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — help
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. track — a song
  17. wound — an injury
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. content — the amount
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. track — a path
  22. board — to get on
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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