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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: clip · board · ground · drill · lie · cap · hand · file

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — a position
  3. board — a committee
  4. file — a line of people
  5. hand — in cards
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. ground — the earth
  9. file — a document
  10. ground — crushed
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. lie — to recline
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. board — to get on
  19. hand — help
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. drill — the tool
  22. file — a tool
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. board — a flat piece

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