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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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. cold — the Cold War
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. current — happening now
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. game — a match
  11. vault — a safe
  12. key — the most important part
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chair — a leader
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. current — of water
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cold — an illness
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. current — electric
  24. clip — a video

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