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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. swing — in golf
  4. drill — a practice
  5. land — a country
  6. press — newspapers
  7. land — ground
  8. rule — government
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. current — of water
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. swing — to play on
  14. drill — army training
  15. press — to push
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — a law
  19. current — happening now
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. press — a publisher
  22. land — to come down
  23. cold — not warm
  24. current — electric

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