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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: cap · current · bat · clip · foot · chest · sharp · pit

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — in a race
  4. cap — a hat
  5. chest — of your body
  6. current — electric
  7. cap — of ice
  8. foot — a measure
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cap — a lid
  12. chest — of your body
  13. current — happening now
  14. current — of water
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. clip — a video
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. pit — a hole
  20. chest — a box
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. sharp — clever
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — the animal

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