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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. clip — a video
  7. deal — to handle
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. hand — help
  10. fine — high quality
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. cold — an illness
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. board — to get on
  21. board — a committee
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. fine — all right
  24. mine — for digging

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