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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · plane · board · drill · cold · chair · snap · pitch

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. chair — a leader
  3. snap — to click
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. board — to get on
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. plane — a tool
  19. board — a committee
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. clip — a video
  22. pitch — completely
  23. clip — to cut
  24. drill — a practice

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