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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: suit · clip · straw · kid · race · current

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. current — of water
  3. race — the arms race
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — for paper
  6. suit — in cards
  7. suit — clothes
  8. clip — to cut
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. suit — to fit
  11. current — happening now
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. current — electric
  15. kid — child
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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