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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: chest · row · cold · tube · board · clip · pop · temple

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. chest — of your body
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — a box
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. board — a committee
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pop — soda
  13. tube — a container
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pop — to visit
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pop — music
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. row — a line
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  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