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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. current — happening now
  3. clip — a video
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — to cut
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the sport
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. ground — crushed
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. ground — the earth
  17. current — electric
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. clip — for paper
  20. squash — to crush
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. ground — a position
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. squash — the vegetable

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