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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. chest — of your body
  3. snap — to click
  4. mate — a partner
  5. season — of the year
  6. clip — for paper
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. mate — a friend
  9. current — electric
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. mate — to breed
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. chest — of your body
  16. current — of water
  17. clip — to cut
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. current — happening now
  22. chest — a box
  23. clip — a video
  24. board — to get on

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