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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. drill — a practice
  3. staff — employees
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mine — for digging
  7. content — the amount
  8. hand — help
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. staff — employees
  14. hand — in cards
  15. staff — a stick
  16. drill — the tool
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. prune — to trim
  19. current — of water
  20. drill — army training
  21. prune — to trim
  22. scale — in music
  23. content — happy
  24. current — electric

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