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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: clip · foot · coach · march · bat · present · board · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — a committee
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — there
  8. clip — for paper
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bat — the animal
  11. march — music
  12. present — the time now
  13. march — the month
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. board — to get on
  17. game — a match
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. foot — a measure
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. clip — to cut

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