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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: saw · board · last · capital · mark · game · perch · clip

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. board — a committee
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. last — finally
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — a city
  10. board — to get on
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. last — to go on
  14. clip — to cut
  15. perch — the fish
  16. clip — for paper
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. last — final
  20. mark — a grade
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — a video
  24. saw — the tool

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