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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. row — a line
  4. game — wild animals
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. clip — a video
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — to paddle
  14. board — a committee
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. bear — the animal
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bear — the animal
  24. board — to get on

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