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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. scale — size or range
  3. fall — to drop
  4. spell — letters
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wake — a trail
  8. current — electric
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. scale — in music
  12. current — happening now
  13. degree — from a university
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. spell — a short time
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. fall — the season
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spell — magic
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fall — to drop

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