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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — a contest
  6. current — electric
  7. chest — a box
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. current — happening now
  11. land — a country
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. race — humankind
  14. season — in sport
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. season — of the year
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — of your body
  19. land — ground
  20. clip — a video
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. current — of water
  24. chest — of your body

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