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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: capital · hand · drill · chest · band · last · rock · board

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. board — a committee
  3. rock — music
  4. drill — a practice
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — to go on
  8. rock — a stone
  9. drill — army training
  10. board — to get on
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. drill — the tool
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — a city
  15. band — a music group
  16. chest — of your body
  17. last — finally
  18. hand — in cards
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. band — a ring
  23. last — final
  24. chest — a box

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