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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: hand · kid · branch · wave · board · file · mark · game

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. hand — in cards
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a grade
  8. hand — help
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. mark — a trace
  11. file — a document
  12. game — a match
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. kid — to tease
  15. file — a line of people
  16. kid — child
  17. branch — a division
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. file — a tool
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. board — a committee

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