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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. can — to be able to
  4. wind — moving air
  5. can — a tin
  6. last — to go on
  7. court — of a king
  8. clip — to cut
  9. last — finally
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. firm — steady
  12. firm — decided
  13. current — electric
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. clip — a video
  16. current — happening now
  17. court — for sport
  18. firm — a company
  19. can — a tin
  20. court — of law
  21. current — of water
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. last — final

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