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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — a position
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. current — happening now
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. current — electric
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — in control
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. rock — music
  13. ground — crushed
  14. charge — electricity
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rock — a stone
  18. current — of water
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. drill — a practice
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cold — not warm

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