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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · pitcher · net · drill · clip · board

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. board — to get on
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. net — in sport
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — for catching
  8. mate — a partner
  9. net — after costs
  10. clip — a video
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mate — to breed
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. board — a committee
  18. drill — a practice

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