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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: squash · last · clip · ground · bay · ball · board · row

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. board — a committee
  3. clip — a video
  4. ball — a dance
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. row — a line
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. ball — a great time
  10. clip — for paper
  11. squash — to crush
  12. clip — to cut
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. last — finally
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. last — final
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ground — a position
  22. board — to get on
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. squash — the vegetable

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