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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bound — tied together
  7. current — happening now
  8. bound — obliged
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. current — of water
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — electric
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. wind — moving air
  18. board — to get on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bound — certain
  21. board — a committee
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — an illness

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