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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. game — a match
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — a video
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — to cut
  11. club — for golf
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — for paper
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. vault — a safe
  20. board — to get on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. club — a group
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wound — an injury

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