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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pit — in a race
  3. clip — to cut
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. pit — a hole
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. snap — to click
  9. board — a committee
  10. plane — a tool
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wake — a trail
  18. clip — for paper
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. board — to get on

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