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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. current — of water
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cell — in biology
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a line of people
  11. ball — a great time
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. current — happening now
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. current — electric
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cold — an illness

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