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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. date — the fruit
  3. tear — to rip
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — from crying
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. current — electric
  8. sharp — clever
  9. current — of water
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. march — music
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. land — a country
  14. rash — hasty
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a line
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rash — a series
  20. land — to come down
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. march — the month
  24. land — ground

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