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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cold — an illness
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bass — low music
  5. current — of water
  6. tear — from crying
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — not warm
  9. craft — boats
  10. file — a document
  11. craft — a skill
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. capital — money
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. capital — a city
  21. current — electric
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. file — a tool
  24. squash — to crush

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