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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.

Make a worksheet

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: racket · mine · cold · last · board · row · clip · toast

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. board — a committee
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mine — for digging
  10. last — to go on
  11. row — to paddle
  12. clip — to cut
  13. last — final
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. clip — a video
  16. board — to get on
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. cold — an illness
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. clip — for paper
  23. last — finally
  24. board — a flat piece

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