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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. rule — a law
  5. row — to paddle
  6. rule — government
  7. row — a line
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. board — to get on
  15. bound — certain
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bound — tied together
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. board — a committee
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. clip — a video
  24. bound — obliged

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