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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. track — a path
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. last — to go on
  6. current — happening now
  7. last — final
  8. track — a song
  9. dip — to sink
  10. root — the cause
  11. file — a tool
  12. current — of water
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. root — of a word
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. last — finally
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. root — of a plant
  22. track — to keep track
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — in sport

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