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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 124 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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — a safe
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. can — to be able to
  8. mine — for digging
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — letters
  12. current — happening now
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. current — of water
  15. spell — a short time
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. shower — rain
  18. current — electric
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spell — magic
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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