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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — of water
  3. pound — a weight
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. tear — to rip
  6. current — electric
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. tear — from crying
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. tear — from crying
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cold — the Cold War

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