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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. snap — to click
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rule — government
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bulb — for light
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bulb — for light
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. board — to get on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. rule — a law
  22. board — a committee
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. trunk — of a tree

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