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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 120 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rush — hurry
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bark — to shout
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. clip — a video
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. scale — in music
  13. board — a committee
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. board — to get on
  24. plane — a tool

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