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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cold — an illness
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bound — certain
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cap — a hat
  8. current — happening now
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. key — in music
  11. cap — a lid
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fall — the season
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. fall — to drop
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. bound — tied together
  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