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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 120 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. charge — electricity
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. current — electric
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. drill — a practice
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — happening now
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — the tool
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. current — of water
  17. charge — a price
  18. clip — for paper
  19. charge — in control
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. clip — to cut
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. drill — army training
  24. calf — of the leg

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