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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. current — of water
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. file — a line of people
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. current — electric
  14. spell — a short time
  15. file — a tool
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spell — letters
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spell — magic
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. current — happening now
  24. file — a document

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