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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mate — a friend
  4. current — happening now
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — tied together
  7. current — electric
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mate — to breed
  11. current — of water
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bound — certain
  21. mate — a partner
  22. chest — a box
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bulb — of a plant

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