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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wound — an injury
  4. current — electric
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chest — a box
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fall — to drop
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mark — a grade
  20. current — happening now
  21. scale — size or range
  22. mark — a trace
  23. fall — the season
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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