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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. current — of water
  3. row — to paddle
  4. degree — temperature
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rest — a break
  7. row — a line
  8. rest — what's left
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. current — electric
  13. degree — from a university
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — a tool
  16. current — happening now
  17. rest — what's left
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pit — in a race
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — a video
  24. pit — a hole

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