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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — a country
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. current — electric
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pit — in a race
  13. dip — to sink
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. current — happening now
  16. rule — a law
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. court — for sport
  20. drill — a practice
  21. rule — government
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. drill — army training

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