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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. club — a group
  3. current — happening now
  4. tear — to rip
  5. current — of water
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — not warm
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stem — to come from
  11. club — for dancing
  12. tear — from crying
  13. current — electric
  14. club — for golf
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. ball — a dance
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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