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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spell — letters
  4. game — a match
  5. current — electric
  6. shower — rain
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. spell — magic
  9. clip — a video
  10. suit — to fit
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. present — the time now
  13. current — of water
  14. clip — for paper
  15. present — there
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. suit — in cards
  18. spell — a short time
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. game — wild animals
  21. shower — to wash
  22. suit — clothes
  23. current — happening now
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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