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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: trunk · board · game · bat · craft · saw · chair · shower

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. game — wild animals
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. shower — to wash
  8. craft — a skill
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. saw — the tool
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bat — the animal
  16. board — to get on
  17. game — a match
  18. craft — boats
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. board — a committee
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. shower — rain

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