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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: tear · coach · hand · board · clip · rest · land · game

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — in cards
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. game — a match
  8. clip — a video
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tear — from crying
  11. rest — a break
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. land — to come down
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — ground
  21. hand — help
  22. clip — for paper
  23. land — a country
  24. game — wild animals

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