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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mark — a trace
  3. pop — soda
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. current — of water
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pop — to visit
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mark — a grade
  13. prune — to trim
  14. current — happening now
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. current — electric
  17. pop — music
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — army training
  23. wound — an injury
  24. prune — the fruit

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