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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. current — of water
  6. content — happy
  7. can — a tin
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wound — an injury
  10. press — to push
  11. press — newspapers
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wound — an injury
  15. current — happening now
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. press — a publisher
  20. content — the amount
  21. can — a tin
  22. sharp — clever
  23. current — electric
  24. can — to be able to

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