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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: board · object · clip · staff · wound · game · roll · cap

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. board — a committee
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. board — to get on
  5. object — to protest
  6. staff — employees
  7. roll — a cake
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — to cut
  11. game — a match
  12. object — a thing
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. object — an aim
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. roll — a list
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. clip — for paper
  21. staff — employees
  22. clip — a video
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cap — a lid

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