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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. kid — child
  3. current — of water
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. current — electric
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bass — low music
  8. land — a country
  9. dip — to sink
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chip — for betting
  12. land — to come down
  13. file — a document
  14. kid — to tease
  15. land — ground
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — the fish
  19. mine — for digging
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. current — happening now

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