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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. current — happening now
  3. bass — the fish
  4. current — of water
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. pitch — completely
  9. spring — of water
  10. object — an aim
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. spring — a coil
  14. current — electric
  15. wound — an injury
  16. object — a thing
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. spring — the season
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. last — finally

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