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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. current — electric
  3. current — of water
  4. charge — a price
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. charge — in control
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. last — finally
  9. rule — a law
  10. charge — electricity
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. last — final
  17. current — happening now
  18. kid — to tease
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kid — child
  21. last — to go on
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. cell — a phone

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