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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. field — farmland
  5. fall — the season
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — a subject
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. current — happening now
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. current — electric
  17. field — for sport
  18. current — of water

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