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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — hurry
  3. sharp — clever
  4. ball — a dance
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. net — in sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. net — for catching
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ball — a great time
  14. rule — a law
  15. cold — not warm
  16. current — happening now
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. rule — government
  19. current — of water
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. current — electric
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. net — after costs
  24. ground — a position

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