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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. 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. face — to point toward
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. current — electric
  4. clip — to cut
  5. current — of water
  6. pit — a hole
  7. face — part of the head
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. pit — in a race
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a document
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. chip — to eat
  16. face — to confront
  17. kick — in football
  18. cold — an illness
  19. file — a tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chip — for betting
  24. 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