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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ball — a great time
  4. game — wild animals
  5. clip — a video
  6. bulb — for light
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ball — a dance
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. current — electric
  15. clip — for paper
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. scale — size or range
  20. game — a match
  21. current — happening now
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. scale — in music
  24. bulb — for light

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