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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: land · sharp · lean · row · face · cell · clip · board

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. clip — for paper
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. face — to confront
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — to cut
  10. board — a committee
  11. land — to come down
  12. face — to point toward
  13. land — a country
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. clip — a video
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. land — ground
  22. face — part of the head
  23. lean — thin
  24. cell — in biology

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