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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: hand · saw · ground · current · sharp · jam · net · clip

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. clip — a video
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. net — in sport
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. current — happening now
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. clip — to cut
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. net — after costs
  14. sharp — clever
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. ground — the earth
  17. saw — the tool
  18. current — electric
  19. ground — crushed
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. current — of water
  22. net — for catching
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. saw — the tool

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