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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 124 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kid — child
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. current — electric
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. track — a path
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. bat — the animal
  12. net — for catching
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ground — the earth
  15. current — happening now
  16. cold — not warm
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. track — to keep track
  19. net — after costs
  20. ground — crushed
  21. current — of water
  22. track — a song
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — a position

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