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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. can — to be able to
  3. current — electric
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. prune — to trim
  6. can — a tin
  7. row — a line
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chest — a box
  11. current — happening now
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. can — a tin
  22. chest — of your body
  23. current — of water
  24. hide — to keep secret

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