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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. face — part of the head
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. march — the month
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. face — to confront
  12. stock — shares
  13. current — of water
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — to paddle
  17. march — the month
  18. face — to point toward
  19. spring — of water
  20. current — electric
  21. chair — a leader
  22. row — a line
  23. march — music
  24. spring — the season

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