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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.

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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: root · board · chest · last · press · nail · game · clip

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. root — of a plant
  2. last — finally
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chest — of your body
  5. game — wild animals
  6. last — final
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. press — to push
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. last — to go on
  13. chest — of your body
  14. press — newspapers
  15. root — the cause
  16. game — a match
  17. clip — for paper
  18. board — to get on
  19. root — of a word
  20. press — a publisher
  21. board — a committee
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  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