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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: last · court · pound · clip · board · date · race · scale

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pound — a weight
  4. court — of law
  5. last — final
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — finally
  8. date — the fruit
  9. board — to get on
  10. last — to go on
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. court — of a king
  13. race — the arms race
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. scale — size or range
  16. race — humankind
  17. scale — in music
  18. court — for sport
  19. clip — a video
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. race — a contest
  24. date — on the calendar

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