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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: clip · club · roll · board · cap · chest · land · row

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cap — a lid
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a hat
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. chest — of your body
  9. row — a line
  10. board — a committee
  11. roll — a cake
  12. roll — a list
  13. board — to get on
  14. land — a country
  15. clip — for paper
  16. land — to come down
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. club — for dancing
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. club — a group
  21. clip — a video
  22. club — for golf
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cap — of ice

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