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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rest — what's left
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cell — a phone
  6. sharp — clever
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. track — to keep track
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rest — what's left
  17. board — to get on
  18. track — a song
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rest — a break
  23. board — a committee
  24. track — a path

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