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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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. ground — a position
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stem — to come from
  10. ground — crushed
  11. board — a committee
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. game — a match
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. game — wild animals
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. clip — a video

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