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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — electric
  6. net — for catching
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. current — happening now
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bound — obliged
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bound — tied together
  14. current — of water
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wax — to grow
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — after costs
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. kid — child
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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