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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. race — humankind
  3. current — of water
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — child
  7. current — electric
  8. race — the arms race
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. race — a contest
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — to tease
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. lean — to bend
  18. current — happening now

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