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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. current — happening now
  3. cold — an illness
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chair — a leader
  11. current — of water
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. current — electric

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