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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 116 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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. clip — for paper
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. wake — a trail
  6. plane — a tool
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — completely
  12. clip — a video
  13. board — a committee
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pound — a weight
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. cold — not warm
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pound — for dogs

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