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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.

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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: board · row · wave · saw · clip · press · bat · field

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. clip — to cut
  4. row — to paddle
  5. press — to push
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. press — newspapers
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — a line
  14. field — a subject
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — for sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — to get on
  20. field — farmland
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wave — with your hand

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