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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: clip · game · current · bulb · bat · straw · prune · root

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. game — a match
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. clip — for paper
  7. current — of water
  8. root — of a plant
  9. current — electric
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. root — of a word
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bulb — for light
  15. clip — a video
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bulb — for light
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. current — happening now
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — the animal
  23. root — the cause
  24. game — wild animals

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