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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: cell · rash · clip · board · bear · calf · chest · spell

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bear — the animal
  5. board — a committee
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. spell — a short time
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — letters
  13. bear — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. clip — for paper
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. chest — of your body
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. rash — a series
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in a prison

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