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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 · rash · march · bat · clip · dip · trunk · chair

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rash — hasty
  5. board — to get on
  6. rash — a series
  7. dip — to sink
  8. march — the month
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. clip — a video
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. board — a committee
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chair — a professorship

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