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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.

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: board · march · wake · hand · row · cold · branch · chair

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. hand — in cards
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. march — music
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — the month
  14. chair — a leader
  15. board — a committee
  16. march — the month
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hand — help
  22. board — to get on
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hand — part of the body

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