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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. last — final
  3. current — happening now
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cap — a hat
  6. last — finally
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. sharp — clever
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. march — the month
  14. cap — a lid
  15. charge — in control
  16. cap — of ice
  17. current — electric
  18. degree — from a university
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. degree — temperature
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. last — to go on
  23. current — of water
  24. charge — electricity

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