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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — a video
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. dip — to sink
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — in football
  11. ball — a dance
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. current — happening now
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — the earth
  18. current — electric
  19. mine — for digging
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. ground — a position
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. current — of water
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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