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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. kid — to tease
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — magic
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spell — letters
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bound — tied together
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — a video
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — to get on
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bark — to shout

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