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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. hand — help
  3. current — electric
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. march — the month
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pass — a permit
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spring — the season
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. chest — a box
  12. spring — of water
  13. chest — of your body
  14. march — music
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. current — happening now
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. march — the month
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. mine — for digging

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