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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. swing — to play on
  3. current — of water
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kick — in football
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. swing — in golf
  9. fork — in a road
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. file — a document
  14. current — happening now
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. season — of the year
  18. swing — music
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. current — electric
  22. clip — to cut
  23. file — a tool
  24. fork — a garden tool

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