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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stock — shares
  4. current — of water
  5. last — finally
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cap — of ice
  9. current — electric
  10. cap — a hat
  11. stock — goods
  12. spring — the season
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — certain
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spring — of water
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. last — final
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bound — obliged
  24. current — happening now

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