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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 124 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. current — happening now
  3. band — a music group
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. current — electric
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stand — to bear
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. ground — the earth
  23. band — a ring
  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