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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. wax — to grow
  3. current — electric
  4. current — happening now
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. file — a tool
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. file — a line of people
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mate — a friend
  15. saw — the tool
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mate — a partner
  19. mate — to breed
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cold — the Cold War

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