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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. clip — to cut
  3. current — of water
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. key — for a lock
  6. current — happening now
  7. bass — low music
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a ring
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. lean — thin
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — an illness
  21. key — in music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. band — a music group
  24. current — electric

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