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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. ball — a dance
  8. present — there
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. current — of water
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. current — electric
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. file — a tool
  15. kick — in football
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. current — happening now
  22. present — the time now
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kick — with a leg

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