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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 116 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. season — in sport
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. track — to keep track
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. rest — what's left
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. snap — to click
  13. track — a song
  14. current — electric
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chair — a leader
  17. rest — what's left
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. current — happening now
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. season — of the year
  22. current — of water
  23. track — a path
  24. sharp — clever

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