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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. club — a group
  6. cell — a phone
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. current — electric
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — for dancing
  15. capital — money
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cap — a lid
  18. club — for golf
  19. current — happening now
  20. cap — a hat
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cap — of ice
  24. capital — a city

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