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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — the animal
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. court — for sport
  5. current — electric
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. current — happening now
  8. rule — government
  9. court — of a king
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rule — a law
  15. court — of law
  16. rush — hurry
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. sharp — clever
  22. current — of water
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rush — to hurry

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