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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. court — for sport
  3. board — a committee
  4. saw — the tool
  5. court — of law
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — to shout
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — the underground
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. saw — the tool
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. clip — to cut
  20. board — to get on
  21. row — a line
  22. court — of a king
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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