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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. current — of water
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. current — happening now
  5. current — electric
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. sharp — clever
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. shower — to wash
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. degree — from a university
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — rain
  24. nail — on a finger

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