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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. current — electric
  3. race — a contest
  4. current — of water
  5. staff — employees
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. clip — for paper
  8. staff — a stick
  9. current — happening now
  10. roll — a list
  11. staff — employees
  12. season — of the year
  13. race — humankind
  14. season — in sport
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bat — the animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rest — a break
  23. roll — a cake
  24. bat — for baseball

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