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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. march — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. vault — a safe
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. season — of the year
  13. bat — the animal
  14. scale — in music
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. current — happening now
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. current — of water
  21. swing — in golf
  22. scale — size or range
  23. swing — music
  24. cold — an illness

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