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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. kid — child
  3. rest — what's left
  4. clip — a video
  5. snap — to click
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. row — a line
  11. rest — a break
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. board — a committee
  15. clip — to cut
  16. net — for catching
  17. clip — for paper
  18. row — to paddle
  19. net — in sport
  20. board — to get on
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. net — after costs
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. row — a quarrel

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