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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: pop · roll · lie · cold · clip · pitcher · board · lash

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. pop — music
  3. clip — a video
  4. roll — a cake
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. roll — a list
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. clip — for paper
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pop — to visit
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. pop — soda
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lie — to recline
  23. board — a committee
  24. lash — an eyelash

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