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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: stem · board · band · current · hand · clip · chair · last

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. current — of water
  4. current — electric
  5. board — a committee
  6. chair — a leader
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. stem — to come from
  9. band — a ring
  10. last — final
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — help
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. last — finally
  20. clip — for paper
  21. current — happening now
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  24. band — a music group

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