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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. present — a gift
  4. current — electric
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. tear — from crying
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. present — the time now
  12. current — of water
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. spring — of water
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. present — there
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. tear — to rip

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