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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: game · clip · race · ball · wind · lash · net · board

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. board — to get on
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a dance
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. ball — a great time
  13. wind — moving air
  14. board — a committee
  15. game — wild animals
  16. net — after costs
  17. race — humankind
  18. net — in sport
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. game — a match
  21. wind — moving air
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — a contest
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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