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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wound — an injury
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — of water
  8. bat — the animal
  9. current — electric
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pound — a weight
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wave — of the sea

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