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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — the season
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. current — of water
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fall — to drop
  14. saw — the tool
  15. tear — to rip
  16. current — electric
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a hole
  19. saw — the tool
  20. chest — a box
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. fan — to cool the air

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