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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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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: kid · march · clip · ground · race · wave · board · chair

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. ground — a position
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. race — humankind
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. board — a committee
  9. ground — the earth
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. march — the month
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. race — the arms race
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chair — a leader
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. kid — child
  24. race — a contest

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