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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. rash — hasty
  3. current — of water
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bank — for money
  8. last — finally
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. shower — rain
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — the tool
  14. last — final
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of law
  17. bank — for money
  18. court — for sport
  19. current — electric
  20. bank — of a river
  21. last — to go on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. current — happening now

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