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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: board · sharp · rest · chest · ground · snap · clip · face

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. face — to point toward
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rest — what's left
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. face — part of the head
  10. board — a committee
  11. ground — a position
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. rest — a break
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. face — to confront
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. ground — crushed
  24. snap — to click

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