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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. board — a committee
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — an amount
  6. track — to keep track
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. row — a line
  11. chip — to eat
  12. clip — to cut
  13. track — a song
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spell — letters
  16. row — to paddle
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. spell — magic
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — from a university
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. clip — for paper
  23. track — a path
  24. straw — dry grass

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