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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. last — final
  4. clip — a video
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cold — not warm
  7. board — to get on
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. plane — a tool
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — for paper
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. last — to go on
  20. roll — a cake
  21. clip — to cut
  22. roll — a list
  23. cold — an illness
  24. board — a committee

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