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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 120 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. root — of a word
  3. current — electric
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — for dancing
  14. club — for golf
  15. current — of water
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bore — to tire
  21. row — to paddle
  22. current — happening now
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. club — a group

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