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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. current — electric
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. current — of water
  12. pit — in a race
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. rest — what's left
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pit — a hole
  19. current — happening now
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. rest — a break

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