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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 120 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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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: fall · wake · object · plane · row · band · board · chest

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. object — an aim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. row — a line
  6. fall — to drop
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a ring
  11. object — to protest
  12. chest — a box
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. fall — to drop
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. board — to get on
  18. band — a music group
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. object — a thing
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. fall — the season
  23. plane — a tool
  24. wake — a trail

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