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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — to come down
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — to get on
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cell — in biology
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. land — a country
  11. club — for golf
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a cake
  14. club — for dancing
  15. kick — in football
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. club — a group
  18. roll — a list
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — a video
  24. land — ground

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