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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 116 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. current — happening now
  4. row — to paddle
  5. clip — to cut
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. season — in sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cap — a lid
  11. ground — crushed
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. ground — a position
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cap — a hat
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — army training
  21. season — of the year
  22. row — a line
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cap — of ice

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