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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. kid — child
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. spell — magic
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. spell — letters
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kid — to tease
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. current — of water

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