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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 116 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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — electric
  3. season — in sport
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. season — of the year
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. scale — in music
  11. wound — an injury
  12. drill — army training
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. drill — a practice
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. current — of water
  19. march — the month
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. scale — size or range

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