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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. clip — a video
  5. club — a group
  6. current — of water
  7. kick — in football
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — to paddle
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. row — a line
  18. club — for dancing
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. current — electric
  22. current — happening now
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. club — for golf

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