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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. land — ground
  3. row — a line
  4. land — to come down
  5. firm — a company
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kick — in football
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — a video
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. tube — a container
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — for paper
  17. firm — decided
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. firm — steady
  22. land — a country
  23. row — to paddle
  24. board — a committee

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