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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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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: straw · cap · row · march · board · wind · nail · kid

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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. march — music
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. kid — to tease
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. board — a committee
  11. kid — child
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. march — the month
  16. cap — a hat
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cap — a lid
  22. march — the month
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cap — of ice

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