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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. bound — obliged
  3. clip — a video
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. season — of the year
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. season — in sport
  11. march — music
  12. current — happening now
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. tube — the underground
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. clip — to cut
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. clip — for paper
  20. current — electric
  21. tear — to rip
  22. game — a match
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — a container

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