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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. fall — the season
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — of water
  9. field — farmland
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. current — happening now
  17. snap — to click
  18. field — a subject
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. field — for sport
  24. cold — an illness

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