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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: march · bound · capital · stock · snap · board · sharp · clip

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — to get on
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stock — goods
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. board — a committee
  11. capital — money
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. capital — a city
  14. march — music
  15. clip — a video
  16. stock — shares
  17. clip — for paper
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bound — tied together
  24. march — the month

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