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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cell — a phone
  5. roll — a cake
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. current — of water
  8. current — happening now
  9. cold — not warm
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. roll — a list
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. deal — to handle
  15. cell — in biology
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cold — an illness
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. current — electric

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