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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: board · bat · stick · bark · shower · bear · rush · saw

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. shower — rain
  7. saw — the tool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. board — to get on
  16. bark — to shout
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bear — the animal
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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