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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 120 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: board · band · clip · pass · chip · firm · snap · court

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. chip — for betting
  5. band — a music group
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. firm — steady
  8. court — of law
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. firm — decided
  11. board — a committee
  12. snap — to click
  13. pass — a permit
  14. court — for sport
  15. band — a ring
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. clip — to cut
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. clip — for paper
  20. court — of a king
  21. clip — a video
  22. firm — a company
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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