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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 120 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: hand · cap · perch · snap · wound · leaves · board · cell

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. board — a committee
  3. cap — a lid
  4. board — to get on
  5. snap — to click
  6. cap — of ice
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cell — in biology
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cell — a phone
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. hand — help
  24. wound — an injury

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