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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. vault — a safe
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. swing — to play on
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. scale — size or range
  8. row — to paddle
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. current — electric
  11. swing — in golf
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. swing — music
  14. file — a line of people
  15. current — happening now
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. scale — in music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. file — a document
  24. row — a line

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