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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. current — electric
  3. club — for golf
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. file — a tool
  7. pop — music
  8. file — a document
  9. current — happening now
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. club — a group
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. club — for dancing
  14. stock — goods
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pop — to visit
  17. shower — rain
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pop — soda
  21. stock — shares
  22. ground — crushed
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chair — a leader

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