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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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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: club · swing · straw · board · wound · vault · march · clip

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. swing — in golf
  3. clip — to cut
  4. board — to get on
  5. club — for dancing
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. board — a committee
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. march — the month
  13. swing — music
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. vault — a safe
  16. clip — a video
  17. club — for golf
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. club — a group
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — to play on
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wound — an injury
  24. straw — a straw man

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