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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. snap — to click
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bat — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. current — happening now
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. pound — a weight
  9. suit — clothes
  10. cell — a phone
  11. suit — to fit
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. current — of water
  15. suit — in cards
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cell — in biology
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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