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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. land — a country
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. court — of a king
  7. current — of water
  8. deal — to handle
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. land — ground
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. court — for sport
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. current — electric
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. clip — a video
  19. court — of law
  20. band — a music group
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. band — a ring
  24. land — to come down

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