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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cold — an illness
  5. last — to go on
  6. charge — in control
  7. land — a country
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rush — hurry
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stem — to come from
  12. charge — electricity
  13. last — finally
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. current — happening now
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — of water
  19. charge — a price
  20. current — electric
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. last — final
  23. land — ground
  24. cold — not warm

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