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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. land — ground
  3. bass — the fish
  4. land — a country
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — not warm
  8. season — in sport
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. season — of the year
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rash — hasty
  13. land — to come down
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bass — low music
  16. march — music
  17. current — electric
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. march — the month
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rash — a series
  23. current — happening now
  24. kid — child

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