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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. current — electric
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. chest — of your body
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — a box
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bat — the animal
  15. current — of water
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. file — a tool
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. file — a document
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chest — of your body

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