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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cap — of ice
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. current — happening now
  8. craft — boats
  9. court — of a king
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cap — a lid
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cap — a hat
  16. current — electric
  17. court — for sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. craft — a skill
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — an illness
  22. field — farmland
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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