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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. track — a path
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. current — of water
  6. bat — the animal
  7. track — to keep track
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pop — soda
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. current — electric
  12. pop — music
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pop — to visit
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. track — a song
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. current — happening now
  23. swing — music
  24. bowl — a dish

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