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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 116 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. charge — a price
  3. face — to point toward
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. face — part of the head
  7. board — a committee
  8. charge — in control
  9. row — a line
  10. face — to confront
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. row — to paddle
  13. spring — the season
  14. charge — electricity
  15. spring — a coil
  16. board — to get on
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. clip — a video

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