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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — an illness
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rest — a break
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. squash — the sport
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. deal — to handle
  14. squash — to crush
  15. perch — the fish
  16. field — a subject
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. board — to get on
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rest — what's left

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