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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. spell — magic
  3. current — happening now
  4. present — the time now
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — not warm
  11. current — electric
  12. present — there
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rock — a stone
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. present — a gift
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. current — of water
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rock — to move gently

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