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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. current — of water
  4. can — a tin
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. degree — from a university
  11. can — a tin
  12. race — humankind
  13. degree — an amount
  14. craft — boats
  15. current — happening now
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. degree — temperature
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. craft — a skill
  24. current — electric

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