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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — for paper
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. court — of a king
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. net — for catching
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. current — happening now
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. deal — to handle
  22. current — electric
  23. clip — a video
  24. court — of law

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