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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: lean · board · mine · shower · march · straw · wound · rock

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. march — the month
  4. rock — music
  5. board — a committee
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to bend
  11. march — music
  12. board — to get on
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rock — a stone

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