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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: board · swing · march · field · cap · clip · wax · suit

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. cap — a hat
  3. board — to get on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — a subject
  7. march — the month
  8. field — farmland
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wax — to grow
  14. field — for sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — to play on
  19. suit — to fit
  20. suit — clothes
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — of ice
  24. suit — in cards

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