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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 · shower · fan · fork · club · chair · march · chest

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. club — for dancing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. club — for golf
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fork — in a road
  9. shower — rain
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. board — to get on
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — a group
  23. chair — a leader
  24. march — the month

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