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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. club — for golf
  3. chair — a leader
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bound — certain
  6. board — to get on
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — to drop
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fall — to drop
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. board — a committee
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. club — for dancing
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. bound — tied together
  18. clip — a video
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. clip — to cut
  21. club — a group
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bound — obliged
  24. fall — the season

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