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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. current — happening now
  4. face — to confront
  5. sharp — clever
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. current — electric
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ground — the earth
  15. current — of water
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. ground — crushed
  19. rash — a series
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. ground — a position
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pop — soda
  24. face — part of the head

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