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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rule — government
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — a law
  13. wind — moving air
  14. current — happening now
  15. current — electric
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. current — of water
  19. rush — hurry
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. march — the month
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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