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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pit — in a race
  4. row — a line
  5. march — the month
  6. tear — from crying
  7. march — music
  8. spell — magic
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — to drop
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pit — a hole
  14. current — electric
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — letters
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. fall — the season
  21. current — happening now
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spell — a short time

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