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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. current — electric
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. current — happening now
  15. current — of water
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. spring — of water
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitcher — a jug

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