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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. current — happening now
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. chip — for betting
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. file — a document
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. wound — an injury
  16. chip — to eat
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wax — to grow
  19. clip — a video
  20. current — electric
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. current — of water
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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