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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. current — happening now
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rash — a series
  7. band — a music group
  8. rash — hasty
  9. march — the month
  10. current — electric
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. band — a ring
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. current — of water
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. march — the month
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. march — music
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. clip — to cut

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