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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. board — to get on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. suit — clothes
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. suit — to fit
  10. scale — in music
  11. saw — the tool
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — to tease
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. suit — in cards
  20. kid — child
  21. sharp — clever
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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