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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: bound · arm · charge · clip · mine · last · current · fork

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. current — electric
  7. bound — obliged
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. last — to go on
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. charge — electricity
  13. charge — a price
  14. current — of water
  15. clip — to cut
  16. current — happening now
  17. bound — certain
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. last — finally
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. clip — for paper
  24. charge — in control

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