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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. root — of a word
  3. clip — a video
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. court — of law
  6. current — of water
  7. shower — to wash
  8. swing — music
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. stand — to bear
  11. current — happening now
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — in golf
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. root — of a plant
  17. shower — rain
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. current — electric
  20. swing — to play on
  21. court — of a king
  22. clip — for paper
  23. root — the cause
  24. court — for sport

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