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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cell — in biology
  3. land — to come down
  4. march — music
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pop — soda
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. march — the month
  10. pop — to visit
  11. current — electric
  12. rash — a series
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rash — hasty
  15. content — the amount
  16. current — happening now
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — the month
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. pop — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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