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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. drill — the tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. shower — rain
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. current — of water
  11. content — the amount
  12. current — electric
  13. net — for catching
  14. content — happy
  15. net — after costs
  16. drill — army training
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pound — a weight
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. net — in sport

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