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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: saw · clip · bound · row · bass · board · spell · date

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bound — obliged
  4. clip — for paper
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bound — certain
  7. saw — the tool
  8. row — a line
  9. spell — letters
  10. bass — low music
  11. spell — magic
  12. board — a committee
  13. clip — to cut
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bound — tied together
  16. clip — a video
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — the fish
  19. row — to paddle
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. spell — a short time
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a flat piece

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