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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. board — a committee
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. saw — the tool
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. clip — to cut
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. clip — for paper
  15. board — to get on
  16. court — of law
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. saw — the tool
  19. court — of a king
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. land — to come down
  22. pound — a weight
  23. clip — a video
  24. court — for sport

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