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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · squash · spring · game · chest · board · wind · temple

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. game — a match
  5. squash — the sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. spring — the season
  13. squash — to crush
  14. game — wild animals
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. board — a committee
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. spring — of water
  20. board — to get on
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hand — in cards
  24. temple — side of the head

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