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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 116 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. current — happening now
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — rain
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. mark — a grade
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. shower — to wash
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. spring — the season
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. current — of water
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spring — a coil
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. spring — 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