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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. band — a music group
  3. rash — a series
  4. swing — to play on
  5. current — electric
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. degree — from a university
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. swing — music
  10. current — happening now
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. mine — for digging
  14. swing — in golf
  15. rash — hasty
  16. content — happy
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. band — a ring
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. content — the amount
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mine — an explosive

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