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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. march — the month
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. march — music
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — an amount
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — temperature
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — happening now
  23. march — the month
  24. mouse — the animal

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