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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: board · content · court · row · wax · clip · race · bore

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bore — to tire
  3. board — a committee
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — for paper
  6. row — to paddle
  7. court — of law
  8. row — a line
  9. clip — a video
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. race — the arms race
  12. board — to get on
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. race — humankind
  18. content — happy
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bore — to drill

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