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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. degree — an amount
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — temperature
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. lean — thin
  10. clip — a video
  11. lean — to bend
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. row — a line
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. face — part of the head
  17. current — of water
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — from a university
  24. straw — a straw man

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