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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a tool
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. snap — to click
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. branch — a division
  9. tube — the underground
  10. current — of water
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. file — a line of people
  13. content — happy
  14. tube — a container
  15. content — the amount
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. current — electric
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. game — a match
  20. current — happening now
  21. wind — moving air
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. file — a document
  24. content — videos and posts

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