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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: clip · pitcher · face · board · bore · firm · capital · sharp

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. clip — for paper
  3. face — to point toward
  4. firm — decided
  5. face — to confront
  6. clip — a video
  7. board — a committee
  8. firm — steady
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — to tire
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. face — part of the head
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — to get on
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. sharp — clever

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