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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. firm — a company
  3. clip — a video
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. bore — to tire
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. hand — in cards
  8. firm — steady
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. board — to get on
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bore — to drill
  15. stem — to come from
  16. clip — to cut
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — money
  19. board — a committee
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. capital — a city
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. firm — decided

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