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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · board · bowl · club · land · straw · clip · face

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. clip — for paper
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — for golf
  5. land — to come down
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. clip — a video
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. board — to get on
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. club — a group
  15. face — part of the head
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. face — to confront
  18. clip — to cut
  19. board — a committee
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. face — to point toward
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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