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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. can — to be able to
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. can — a tin
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. current — electric
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. current — of water
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kick — in football
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. current — happening now
  20. stem — to come from
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. can — a tin
  24. dip — to sink

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