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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. current — of water
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. clip — to cut
  6. band — a ring
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. current — electric
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wax — to grow
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spell — letters
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bear — the animal
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. current — happening now
  18. band — a music group
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. spell — magic
  24. wax — for sculpting

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