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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — moving air
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. prune — to trim
  5. current — happening now
  6. wind — moving air
  7. can — a tin
  8. clip — a video
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. game — wild animals
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. vault — a safe
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. clip — for paper
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — to be able to
  18. bore — to tire
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bore — to drill
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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