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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. current — electric
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. clip — a video
  5. hand — help
  6. rash — a series
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. face — to point toward
  9. kid — to tease
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bat — the animal
  14. face — part of the head
  15. current — happening now
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. ground — a position
  18. kid — child
  19. current — of water
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — to cut
  22. face — to confront
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rash — hasty

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