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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: clip · pop · spring · land · board · fall · row · pound

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — of water
  4. pop — soda
  5. spring — the season
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. row — a line
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pop — music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pound — a weight
  13. land — to come down
  14. board — a committee
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. land — a country
  17. board — to get on
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — to paddle
  21. clip — to cut
  22. spring — a coil
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — the season

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