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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. spring — of water
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. clip — a video
  9. band — a ring
  10. kick — in football
  11. board — to get on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. track — to keep track
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. track — a path
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. track — a song
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. board — a committee
  23. spring — a coil
  24. band — a music group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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