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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: season · cell · wind · key · bass · board · root · clip

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. board — a committee
  3. root — of a word
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. bass — low music
  6. root — of a plant
  7. key — the most important part
  8. root — the cause
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. key — in music
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. key — for a lock
  19. season — in sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — of the year
  22. bass — the fish
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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