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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. season — of the year
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lie — to recline
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. rule — government
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — from a university
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. current — happening now
  16. clip — a video
  17. current — of water
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rule — a law
  22. wound — an injury
  23. season — in sport
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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