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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. current — electric
  3. season — in sport
  4. pop — music
  5. pass — a permit
  6. file — a document
  7. season — of the year
  8. spell — letters
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. current — happening now
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. file — a tool
  17. current — of water
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — of law
  21. spell — a short time
  22. court — for sport
  23. pop — soda
  24. spell — magic

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