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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a tool
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cold — an illness
  8. current — electric
  9. file — a document
  10. scale — in music
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. scale — size or range
  14. current — happening now
  15. pitch — completely
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. sharp — clever
  19. current — of water
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. file — a line of people
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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