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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 116 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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — an illness
  4. swing — in golf
  5. race — the arms race
  6. current — electric
  7. swing — music
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. cold — not warm
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — the fish
  13. court — for sport
  14. current — happening now
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stand — to bear
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. swing — to play on
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. court — of a king

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