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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 116 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. craft — a skill
  3. board — to get on
  4. fall — to drop
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. field — a subject
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. craft — boats
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. field — for sport
  18. charge — electricity
  19. field — farmland
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. charge — in control
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. board — a committee

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