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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: hide · land · cold · hand · clip · board · cue · spell

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. spell — a short time
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. spell — letters
  7. board — to get on
  8. cue — a hint
  9. board — a committee
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cue — for pool
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spell — magic
  15. hand — help
  16. land — a country
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. clip — a video
  20. cue — a signal
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. land — to come down
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. land — ground

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