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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. ground — a position
  5. root — the cause
  6. wound — an injury
  7. root — of a word
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. current — of water
  11. wind — moving air
  12. root — of a plant
  13. fine — all right
  14. last — final
  15. race — humankind
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. fine — high quality
  20. current — electric
  21. race — a contest
  22. ground — crushed
  23. race — the arms race
  24. current — happening now

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