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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. current — happening now
  3. court — for sport
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. can — to be able to
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. current — of water
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cell — a phone
  15. can — a tin
  16. current — electric
  17. court — of a king
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. wake — a trail
  21. can — a tin
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. court — of law
  24. row — to paddle

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