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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. fall — to drop
  3. file — a tool
  4. band — a ring
  5. branch — a division
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. file — a line of people
  9. current — of water
  10. perch — the fish
  11. firm — steady
  12. firm — decided
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fall — to drop
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — an illness
  20. file — a document
  21. firm — a company
  22. fall — the season
  23. band — a music group
  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