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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: hand · coach · present · staff · ball · march · clip · board

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. staff — employees
  4. present — the time now
  5. staff — employees
  6. clip — a video
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. ball — a dance
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. board — to get on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. hand — help
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. march — the month
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. present — a gift
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — to cut
  20. march — music
  21. staff — a stick
  22. present — there
  23. march — the month
  24. ball — a great time

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