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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. staff — a stick
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. staff — employees
  6. bear — the animal
  7. current — happening now
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. staff — employees
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. fine — all right
  12. content — happy
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kid — to tease
  17. current — electric
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bear — the animal
  23. content — the amount
  24. fine — high quality

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