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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — to come down
  5. current — electric
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. land — ground
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. stem — to come from
  12. land — a country
  13. pitch — completely
  14. current — of water
  15. cell — in biology
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cell — a phone
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. current — happening now

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