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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. charge — electricity
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to sink
  13. charge — in control
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. hand — help
  16. board — to get on
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. clip — a video
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. charge — a price
  23. rash — a series
  24. sharp — clever

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