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

Word bank: chest · object · fan · tear · clip · pound · fall · board

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. clip — to cut
  3. board — to get on
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fall — to drop
  9. board — a committee
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. object — a thing
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pound — a weight
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. chest — a box

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