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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: toast · kid · wave · field · clip · plane · bark · board

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. clip — a video
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. bark — to shout
  9. field — a subject
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. board — to get on
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. plane — a tool
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. field — farmland
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. clip — for paper
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. toast — bread
  24. field — for sport

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