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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: shower · race · season · current · clip · suit · prune · club

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. current — of water
  3. shower — to wash
  4. season — of the year
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — to cut
  7. current — happening now
  8. race — a contest
  9. clip — a video
  10. suit — clothes
  11. prune — to trim
  12. race — the arms race
  13. current — electric
  14. suit — to fit
  15. club — a group
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. suit — in cards
  19. clip — for paper
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. club — for golf
  22. race — humankind
  23. season — in sport
  24. club — for dancing

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