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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. current — of water
  3. shower — rain
  4. ground — a position
  5. spell — letters
  6. game — wild animals
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. current — happening now
  10. ground — crushed
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bulb — for light
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stock — shares
  17. game — a match
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitch — completely
  20. stock — goods
  21. spell — magic
  22. bulb — for light
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. current — electric

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