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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. club — a group
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. snap — to click
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. club — for golf
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. current — happening now
  12. current — of water
  13. club — for dancing
  14. ball — a dance
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. chip — for betting
  20. shower — to wash
  21. ball — a great time
  22. chip — to eat
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. cold — the Cold War

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