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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — of water
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — a video
  13. craft — boats
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. current — happening now
  18. clip — for paper
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. hand — in cards
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — a city
  24. craft — a skill

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