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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. board — to get on
  3. tube — a container
  4. tube — the underground
  5. band — a music group
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chair — a leader
  9. object — a thing
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cell — in biology
  13. clip — a video
  14. object — an aim
  15. board — a committee
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. object — to protest
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. row — a line
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cell — a phone
  24. tube — in a tire

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