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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: clip · game · firm · swing · press · current · tube · cold

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. press — to push
  3. clip — for paper
  4. game — wild animals
  5. clip — to cut
  6. firm — a company
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. press — newspapers
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. current — happening now
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — a container
  14. current — of water
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — an illness
  18. game — a match
  19. firm — decided
  20. swing — in golf
  21. press — a publisher
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. firm — steady
  24. swing — to play on

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