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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cap — a hat
  4. perch — the fish
  5. game — a match
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. current — happening now
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cap — of ice
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. can — a tin
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. sharp — clever
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. game — wild animals
  19. can — to be able to
  20. cap — a lid
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. current — electric
  24. current — of water

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