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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. net — in sport
  3. current — happening now
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. cold — an illness
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. current — electric
  12. sharp — clever
  13. net — after costs
  14. chip — for betting
  15. net — for catching
  16. current — of water
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. wake — a trail

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