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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 124 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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. current — happening now
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. net — for catching
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — after costs
  10. bass — low music
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. net — in sport
  13. bulb — for light
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bass — the fish
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. current — electric
  21. current — of water
  22. chest — of your body
  23. clip — a video
  24. chest — a box

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