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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. board — a committee
  4. file — a line of people
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. root — of a plant
  8. file — a document
  9. root — the cause
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. root — of a word
  18. march — music
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. file — a tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. board — to get on
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. clip — a video

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