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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  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 committee
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. spring — the season
  5. court — of law
  6. object — a thing
  7. court — of a king
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. court — for sport
  10. object — to protest
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. staff — employees
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — of water
  16. board — to get on
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. staff — a stick
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kid — child
  21. staff — employees
  22. object — an aim
  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