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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 120 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — a box
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. field — for sport
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. squash — the sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. clip — a video
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. squash — to crush
  11. board — a committee
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. vault — a safe
  16. chest — of your body
  17. board — to get on
  18. field — a subject
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — farmland
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. row — a line
  24. wave — of the sea

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