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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — an illness
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. tear — to rip
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. current — electric
  9. cold — not warm
  10. current — happening now
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. current — of water
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — music
  16. cell — a phone
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. date — the fruit
  20. chair — a leader
  21. pop — soda
  22. cell — in biology
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cold — the Cold War

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