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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. staff — employees
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mate — to breed
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. season — of the year
  8. tube — the underground
  9. season — in sport
  10. tube — a container
  11. wind — moving air
  12. current — happening now
  13. clip — a video
  14. swing — music
  15. current — of water
  16. swing — to play on
  17. current — electric
  18. mate — a friend
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — in golf
  24. tube — in a tire

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