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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a partner
  8. chest — a box
  9. vault — a safe
  10. cold — an illness
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. current — of water
  15. rush — hurry
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. current — happening now
  18. chest — of your body
  19. current — electric
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. chest — of your body
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. rush — a thrill

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