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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. current — of water
  3. net — after costs
  4. clip — a video
  5. present — a gift
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. spring — the season
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. clip — to cut
  13. net — in sport
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — high quality
  16. present — there
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. current — electric
  19. current — happening now
  20. net — for catching
  21. clip — for paper
  22. file — a tool
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. fine — a penalty

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