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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. spring — of water
  3. current — electric
  4. current — of water
  5. march — music
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. swing — in golf
  9. march — the month
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. march — the month
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. swing — to play on
  15. spring — the season
  16. tear — from crying
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. current — happening now
  23. swing — music
  24. tear — from crying

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