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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. current — electric
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — to tease
  5. spring — of water
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. current — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. board — a committee
  10. kid — child
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bound — obliged
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. roll — a list
  21. current — happening now
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. board — to get on
  24. roll — a cake

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