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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. current — happening now
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spell — letters
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spell — a short time
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — for paper
  13. current — electric
  14. ground — the earth
  15. net — after costs
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spell — magic
  18. ground — crushed
  19. net — for catching
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. ground — a position
  23. net — in sport
  24. current — of water

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