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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: can · board · degree · tube · bay · row · wind · clip

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. degree — an amount
  9. clip — for paper
  10. row — a line
  11. degree — temperature
  12. board — a committee
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. can — a tin
  23. board — to get on
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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