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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. current — electric
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. chest — of your body
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. pop — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — soda
  13. current — of water
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. chest — a box
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pop — to visit
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. current — happening now
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. chest — of your body

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