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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. current — electric
  6. current — happening now
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wind — moving air
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cue — a hint
  12. pit — a hole
  13. court — of law
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. current — of water
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cue — a signal
  18. court — of a king
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. temple — a place of worship

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