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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: clip · face · rash · rock · pound · board · spring · land

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. clip — for paper
  4. board — to get on
  5. pound — a weight
  6. spring — of water
  7. land — to come down
  8. rash — a series
  9. board — a committee
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. land — ground
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rock — music
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. face — part of the head
  20. spring — the season
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. land — a country
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. spring — a coil

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