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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. current — of water
  3. fall — the season
  4. current — happening now
  5. bat — the animal
  6. net — after costs
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. current — electric
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. net — in sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. net — for catching
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — the Cold War

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