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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. current — of water
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tube — the underground
  9. race — humankind
  10. chair — a leader
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — not warm
  16. craft — boats
  17. current — electric
  18. file — a tool
  19. current — happening now
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. craft — a skill

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