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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. staff — employees
  4. wind — moving air
  5. staff — employees
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chair — a leader
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wind — moving air
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. spring — of water
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chair — a professorship

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