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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. land — ground
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. current — happening now
  5. last — final
  6. kid — child
  7. current — of water
  8. last — finally
  9. land — a country
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a hat
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rock — a stone
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fall — to drop
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — to come down
  21. cap — a lid
  22. hand — help
  23. fall — to drop
  24. current — electric

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