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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. current — of water
  3. object — an aim
  4. object — to protest
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. object — a thing
  14. current — happening now
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. kid — child
  21. sharp — clever
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. current — electric
  24. clip — a video

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