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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. current — of water
  5. pop — music
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pop — to visit
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. spell — letters
  12. current — happening now
  13. pit — a hole
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rule — government
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rule — a law
  18. current — electric
  19. row — a line
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spell — magic

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