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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. shower — rain
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — an illness
  5. current — electric
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. drill — army training
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. present — the time now
  10. race — a contest
  11. clip — a video
  12. drill — the tool
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. present — there
  19. drill — a practice
  20. current — of water
  21. present — a gift
  22. current — happening now
  23. race — the arms race
  24. shower — to wash

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