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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rash — a series
  3. clip — a video
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a trace
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. spell — letters
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. spell — a short time
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. kick — in football
  18. current — of water
  19. current — electric
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rush — hurry
  22. spell — magic
  23. mark — a grade
  24. current — happening now

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