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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. current — electric
  4. present — a gift
  5. current — of water
  6. current — happening now
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. pop — to visit
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. mine — for digging
  17. present — the time now
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — soda
  20. pitch — completely
  21. present — there
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. deal — to handle
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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