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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. fall — the season
  3. cell — in biology
  4. current — of water
  5. current — electric
  6. cell — a phone
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. fall — to drop
  11. current — happening now
  12. clip — for paper
  13. board — to get on
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. wax — to grow
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fall — to drop

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