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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. clip — for paper
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. chip — for betting
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. chip — to eat
  15. spring — of water
  16. clip — a video
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. press — a publisher
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in biology
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — to push
  24. wake — a trail

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