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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. clip — for paper
  3. branch — a division
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. file — a tool
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. ground — crushed
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. file — a document
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. current — of water
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. current — happening now

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