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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 120 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: sharp · wind · face · current · clip · ground · file · dip

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. file — a tool
  4. ground — a position
  5. wind — moving air
  6. file — a line of people
  7. clip — to cut
  8. current — electric
  9. wind — moving air
  10. sharp — clever
  11. face — to confront
  12. dip — to sink
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. ground — the earth
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. clip — a video
  19. file — a document
  20. current — happening now
  21. ground — crushed
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. sharp — with an edge

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