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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cold — an illness
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — the month
  6. current — of water
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. ground — crushed
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cold — not warm
  12. board — to get on
  13. march — the month
  14. current — electric
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. current — happening now
  18. ground — the earth
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — a committee
  21. ground — a position
  22. march — music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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