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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 120 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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — a stone
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — happening now
  6. swing — in golf
  7. current — electric
  8. swing — to play on
  9. bat — the animal
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rock — music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. dip — to sink
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. current — of water
  22. lie — to recline
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. swing — music

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