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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 120 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: wound · clip · band · wake · squash · club · board · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. board — to get on
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. band — a music group
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — wild animals
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wake — a trail
  19. band — a ring
  20. clip — a video
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. club — a group
  24. game — a match

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