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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — to get on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. board — a committee
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. clip — for paper
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — the time now
  16. pit — a hole
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — a video
  19. present — a gift
  20. pit — in a race
  21. dip — to sink
  22. cold — an illness
  23. present — there
  24. clip — to cut

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