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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. squash — to crush
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. kick — in football
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. board — a committee
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — to drop
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wake — a trail
  20. board — to get on
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. fall — the season
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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