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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. current — electric
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. current — happening now
  5. race — humankind
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. clip — for paper
  13. current — of water
  14. chair — a leader
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. rest — a break
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — to come down
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. rest — what's left

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