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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: jam · wake · face · current · clip · straw · squash · bat

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. current — electric
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. squash — the sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — a trail
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. clip — to cut
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. current — happening now
  24. current — of water

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