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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · clip · season · present · bore · toast · arm · mine

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. mine — for digging
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. season — in sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. current — electric
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. current — of water
  10. present — the time now
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. toast — bread
  13. bore — to tire
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. present — there
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. present — a gift
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bore — to drill
  23. season — of the year
  24. clip — a video

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