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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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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chest — of your body
  5. current — happening now
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. current — of water
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — a box
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — electric
  18. pitcher — a jug

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