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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. current — happening now
  3. stand — to bear
  4. bass — low music
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — the animal
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. foot — a measure
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. wind — moving air
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bass — the fish
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. current — electric
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bass — the instrument

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