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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. mug — to rob
  3. current — electric
  4. mug — a cup
  5. current — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. current — happening now
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tear — to rip
  16. content — happy
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. content — the amount

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