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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. root — of a word
  3. kid — child
  4. current — of water
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. current — happening now
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. key — the most important part
  10. court — of law
  11. root — the cause
  12. tube — the underground
  13. clip — a video
  14. key — for a lock
  15. stock — shares
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tube — a container
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. court — for sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. court — of a king
  22. key — in music
  23. root — 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