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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bear — the animal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. current — electric
  12. cold — not warm
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. track — a song
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bear — the animal
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. current — happening now
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. current — of water

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