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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: bore · clip · board · chip · bowl · hand · wind · mate

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bore — to tire
  4. wind — moving air
  5. board — to get on
  6. clip — a video
  7. bore — to drill
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a friend
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. board — a committee
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wind — moving air
  24. board — a flat piece

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