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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. current — electric
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. net — after costs
  8. fine — all right
  9. face — part of the head
  10. fine — high quality
  11. staff — a stick
  12. current — happening now
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. face — to point toward
  17. current — of water
  18. net — for catching
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. cold — not warm
  21. file — a tool
  22. deal — to handle
  23. staff — employees
  24. net — in sport

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