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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mate — to breed
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rush — hurry
  6. roll — a list
  7. current — happening now
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. band — a music group
  11. clip — a video
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — for paper
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. current — electric
  18. mate — a friend
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. mate — a partner
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. roll — a cake

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