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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. stem — to come from
  3. clip — a video
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. current — of water
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. clip — for paper
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. wound — an injury
  19. court — for sport
  20. current — happening now
  21. wound — an injury
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. current — electric

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