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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. clip — a video
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pop — music
  7. current — of water
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cold — an illness
  14. current — happening now
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. rush — hurry
  20. pop — soda
  21. bat — the animal
  22. current — electric
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pit — a hole

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