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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mine — for digging
  3. row — a line
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. prune — to trim
  6. lean — thin
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. scale — size or range
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. current — electric
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chair — a leader
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. lean — to bend
  19. prune — to trim
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. scale — in music
  22. row — to paddle
  23. current — happening now
  24. chair — to sit on

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