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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. current — of water
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. court — of law
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. current — happening now
  11. content — happy
  12. land — a country
  13. current — electric
  14. court — for sport
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. cold — an illness
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. land — ground
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. content — the amount
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. court — of a king
  24. pitch — completely

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