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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fall — the season
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. board — to get on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. roll — a list
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — a committee
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. fall — to drop
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to click
  21. clip — for paper
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. roll — a cake
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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