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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. saw — the tool
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hand — help
  10. board — to get on
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pop — music
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. clip — a video
  15. pop — to visit
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wake — a trail
  19. board — a committee
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pop — soda
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — in cards

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