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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. current — electric
  6. band — a music group
  7. wound — an injury
  8. key — in music
  9. current — happening now
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — to cut
  13. key — the most important part
  14. present — a gift
  15. present — there
  16. wound — an injury
  17. current — of water
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. content — the amount
  20. row — a line
  21. present — the time now
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. row — to paddle

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