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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. track — a song
  4. track — to keep track
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. file — a document
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. hand — in cards
  10. file — a tool
  11. track — a path
  12. clip — to cut
  13. dip — to sink
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. race — humankind
  17. current — of water
  18. hand — help
  19. current — electric
  20. current — happening now
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. file — a line of people
  24. dip — a sauce

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