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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. spring — of water
  3. march — music
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — the month
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — the season
  13. board — a committee
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. clip — to cut
  19. march — the month
  20. board — to get on
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. spring — the season
  23. clip — a video
  24. chair — a leader

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