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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a great time
  6. chest — of your body
  7. current — of water
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. pitch — completely
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. ball — a dance
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. current — electric
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. current — happening now
  22. chest — of your body
  23. sharp — clever
  24. chest — a box

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