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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. current — of water
  3. current — electric
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. ground — a position
  6. snap — to click
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. ground — the earth
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. current — happening now
  13. pop — to visit
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. sharp — clever
  20. clip — a video
  21. lean — thin
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. lean — to bend

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