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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: board · hand · bark · cell · deal · tube · mine · snap

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. board — a committee
  4. tube — a container
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. tube — the underground
  8. hand — in cards
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cell — a phone
  15. deal — to handle
  16. hand — help
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bark — to shout
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. board — to get on
  22. cell — in biology
  23. snap — to click
  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