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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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. content — the amount
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pit — a hole
  6. content — happy
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pit — in a race
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. current — of water
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. face — part of the head
  17. tear — to rip
  18. face — to confront
  19. current — happening now
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. face — to point toward

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