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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. squash — to crush
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. chest — of your body
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. file — a document
  9. current — happening now
  10. bat — the animal
  11. file — a tool
  12. chest — a box
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — a phone
  17. current — of water
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. file — a line of people
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — in biology
  24. nail — for a hammer

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