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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. current — electric
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rash — a series
  6. object — to protest
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — of water
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wake — a trail
  11. drill — army training
  12. object — a thing
  13. rash — hasty
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. season — of the year
  17. object — an aim
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — in sport
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. prune — to trim

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