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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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Word bank
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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: fall · pop · racket · rule · bulb · clip · wind · current

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. pop — to visit
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — soda
  4. current — happening now
  5. fall — to drop
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bulb — for light
  8. rule — a law
  9. fall — to drop
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bulb — for light
  15. current — electric
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. pop — music
  21. current — of water
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. fall — the season
  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