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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: ground · band · board · cabinet · march · clip · game · firm

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. ground — crushed
  6. firm — a company
  7. ground — a position
  8. march — music
  9. firm — decided
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. ground — the earth
  12. game — a match
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. board — a committee
  15. firm — steady
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — a video
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. clip — to cut
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — for paper
  24. board — to get on

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