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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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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: toast · clip · bat · board · wind · rash

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. board — to get on
  3. rash — a series
  4. board — a committee
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. wind — moving air
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. clip — a video
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. clip — to cut

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