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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — to paddle
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. row — a line
  10. stem — to come from
  11. current — electric
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. field — a subject
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. field — farmland
  21. file — a document
  22. current — of water
  23. current — happening now
  24. field — for sport

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