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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. hand — help
  3. rash — a series
  4. saw — the tool
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. tube — a container
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. clip — a video
  14. saw — the tool
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. prune — to trim
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. rash — hasty
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wound — an injury
  24. board — to get on

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