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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — a country
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. current — electric
  8. land — to come down
  9. current — happening now
  10. bulb — for light
  11. current — of water
  12. shower — rain
  13. lean — to bend
  14. lean — thin
  15. field — a subject
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — a video
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. field — farmland
  20. land — ground
  21. bore — to drill
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. field — 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