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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. clip — to cut
  4. capital — money
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a city
  7. clip — a video
  8. net — for catching
  9. kid — child
  10. spell — magic
  11. ball — a dance
  12. kid — to tease
  13. current — happening now
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spell — a short time
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. net — after costs
  18. current — electric
  19. net — in sport
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. fall — to drop

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