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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. staff — employees
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. roll — a list
  5. current — of water
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a music group
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. current — happening now
  15. cap — a lid
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. current — electric
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. staff — a stick
  21. cap — a hat
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — the animal

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