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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. current — of water
  3. pop — soda
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — happening now
  6. pop — music
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pop — to visit
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. chip — for betting
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of law
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. court — of a king
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. current — electric
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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