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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. rest — what's left
  4. drill — army training
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. degree — an amount
  12. chest — a box
  13. current — of water
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — from a university
  17. current — electric
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. current — happening now
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cell — a phone
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. chest — of your body

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