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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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. clip — a video
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stand — to bear
  7. board — a committee
  8. spell — magic
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. spell — letters
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — for paper
  14. row — to paddle
  15. stem — to come from
  16. board — to get on
  17. bound — certain
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a line
  20. bound — obliged
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. cold — an illness

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