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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: current · ball · clip · tube · bat · degree · drill · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. tube — a container
  3. current — of water
  4. clip — to cut
  5. current — electric
  6. current — happening now
  7. ball — a dance
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. degree — an amount
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — for paper
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bat — the animal
  18. tube — the underground
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. ball — a great time
  21. drill — the tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. drill — army training
  24. degree — temperature

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