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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — army training
  6. board — a committee
  7. land — to come down
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pitch — completely
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — a video
  12. drill — a practice
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. game — wild animals
  16. land — a country
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. land — ground
  19. board — to get on
  20. clip — to cut
  21. game — a match
  22. mine — for digging
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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