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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. net — in sport
  4. staff — employees
  5. fall — to drop
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. net — for catching
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cell — a phone
  11. plane — a tool
  12. current — electric
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. staff — employees
  15. fall — to drop
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cell — in biology
  18. tear — to rip
  19. fall — the season
  20. net — after costs
  21. current — happening now
  22. tear — from crying
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. staff — a stick

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