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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. current — of water
  3. row — to paddle
  4. current — happening now
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bound — certain
  10. bass — the fish
  11. file — a tool
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. file — a document
  15. bass — low music
  16. bound — tied together
  17. sharp — clever
  18. current — electric
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. row — a line
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. sharp — with an edge

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