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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. mug — a face
  4. roll — a cake
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. board — to get on
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mug — a cup
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. board — a committee
  14. plane — a tool
  15. roll — a list
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. chest — a box
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mug — to rob
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. clip — for paper

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