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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 · chest · clip · track · season · race · bulb · nail

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — a video
  3. race — humankind
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. track — a path
  7. season — of the year
  8. current — electric
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chest — a box
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. race — the arms race
  19. current — of water
  20. current — happening now
  21. clip — to cut
  22. race — a contest
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. bulb — for light

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