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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — finally
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. file — a document
  6. track — to keep track
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. tear — to rip
  10. file — a tool
  11. march — the month
  12. track — a path
  13. file — a line of people
  14. tear — from crying
  15. current — of water
  16. march — the month
  17. track — a song
  18. march — music
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. current — happening now
  22. saw — the tool
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. saw — the tool

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