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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. swing — music
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. cold — not warm
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — a country
  10. race — humankind
  11. land — ground
  12. swing — in golf
  13. tube — the underground
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. wound — an injury
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. swing — to play on
  18. tube — a container
  19. current — electric
  20. current — of water
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — to come down
  23. race — a contest
  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