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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. staff — employees
  4. current — electric
  5. current — happening now
  6. tube — the underground
  7. chest — of your body
  8. staff — a stick
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mate — a partner
  11. tube — a container
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. snap — to click
  15. mate — a friend
  16. clip — for paper
  17. staff — employees
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wind — moving air
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. chest — a box
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. current — of water

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