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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 · lash · chest · root · wound · board · game · drill

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. clip — to cut
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chest — a box
  9. drill — army training
  10. root — of a plant
  11. board — to get on
  12. drill — a practice
  13. root — the cause
  14. drill — the tool
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. root — of a word
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. game — wild animals
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — a match

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