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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. current — electric
  3. file — a document
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — a city
  6. face — to point toward
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — there
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. present — a gift
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a tool
  14. lie — to recline
  15. current — of water
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — not warm
  18. face — part of the head
  19. current — happening now
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a line of people
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lie — an untruth

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