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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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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: cue · hide · mine · wind · lash · race · board · clip

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. clip — a video
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. clip — to cut
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — for paper
  12. board — to get on
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. mine — for digging
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cue — a signal
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cue — for pool
  21. race — the arms race
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. wind — moving air
  24. board — a committee

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