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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. scale — in music
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. scale — size or range
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spring — of water
  17. lie — to recline
  18. current — happening now
  19. sharp — clever
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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