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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. current — of water
  7. rest — what's left
  8. chip — to eat
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. current — happening now
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. current — electric
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. dip — to sink
  20. rest — what's left
  21. capital — money
  22. rest — a break
  23. capital — a city
  24. chip — for betting

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