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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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. clip — to cut
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. tear — to rip
  7. file — a line of people
  8. clip — for paper
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. hand — help
  13. tear — from crying
  14. board — a committee
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. hand — in cards
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. clip — a video
  23. tear — from crying
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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