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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — a video
  3. current — of water
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. current — electric
  6. current — happening now
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. land — ground
  9. club — for dancing
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mine — for digging
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. club — a group
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wound — an injury
  24. club — for golf

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