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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. clip — for paper
  4. root — the cause
  5. clip — a video
  6. chest — of your body
  7. roll — a list
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. board — a committee
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. clip — to cut
  14. board — to get on
  15. root — of a plant
  16. roll — a cake
  17. row — to paddle
  18. root — of a word

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