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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to bend
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chair — a leader
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. wound — an injury
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. degree — an amount
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. current — happening now
  23. cold — an illness
  24. coach — a trainer

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