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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ground — the earth
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. tear — from crying
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ground — a position
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. swing — in golf
  12. clip — to cut
  13. band — a music group
  14. swing — to play on
  15. tear — from crying
  16. clip — a video
  17. row — a line
  18. swing — music
  19. tear — to rip
  20. ground — crushed
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — a committee
  24. sharp — clever

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