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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. firm — decided
  3. bass — the fish
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. bass — low music
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — to visit
  8. current — happening now
  9. cold — an illness
  10. firm — steady
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. file — a line of people
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. file — a document
  16. firm — a company
  17. current — of water
  18. pop — music
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mouse — the animal

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