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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: bat · pit · wound · clip · roll · bound · board · rush

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. board — a committee
  6. roll — a list
  7. bound — certain
  8. clip — to cut
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. wound — an injury
  18. board — to get on
  19. roll — a cake
  20. pit — a hole
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bound — obliged
  24. roll — on a roll

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