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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. wind — moving air
  3. board — to get on
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cap — of ice
  6. last — final
  7. cap — a hat
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. wind — moving air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. last — finally
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. board — a committee
  14. last — to go on
  15. cap — a lid
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. row — to paddle
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — a quarrel

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