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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. saw — the tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. snap — to click
  5. track — a path
  6. rule — government
  7. track — a song
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. current — of water
  10. season — in sport
  11. current — electric
  12. saw — the tool
  13. file — a tool
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. drill — a practice
  17. file — a document
  18. drill — army training
  19. track — to keep track
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. rule — a law
  23. drill — the tool
  24. current — happening now

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