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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: spell · clip · board · club · rock · row · sharp · bass

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. club — a group
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. board — a committee
  5. rock — music
  6. bass — the fish
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spell — letters
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — a short time
  12. club — for golf
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bass — low music
  15. row — a line
  16. club — for dancing
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. rock — a stone
  19. row — to paddle
  20. board — to get on
  21. clip — a video
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. spell — magic
  24. bass — the instrument

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