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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a committee
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. row — a line
  7. bank — for money
  8. lie — to recline
  9. march — music
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. mine — for digging
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bank — for money
  14. hand — help
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. clip — a video
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — to cut
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. march — the month
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bank — of a river

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