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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 124 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. roll — a cake
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cell — a phone
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. current — electric
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mate — to breed
  12. current — of water
  13. cell — in biology
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. swing — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. current — happening now
  18. pop — music
  19. mate — a partner
  20. roll — a list
  21. swing — in golf
  22. pop — soda
  23. mate — a friend
  24. cell — in a prison

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