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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. current — happening now
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. club — for golf
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. drill — army training
  9. current — of water
  10. drill — a practice
  11. spring — the season
  12. drill — the tool
  13. shower — to wash
  14. clip — to cut
  15. club — for dancing
  16. current — electric
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. can — a tin
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. can — a tin
  22. club — a group
  23. shower — rain
  24. can — to be able to

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