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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. current — of water
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. kick — in football
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. current — electric
  14. key — in music
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. race — the arms race
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. current — happening now
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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