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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — of water
  3. last — finally
  4. wind — moving air
  5. last — final
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. land — ground
  8. deal — to handle
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. perch — the fish
  14. last — to go on
  15. current — happening now
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. land — to come down
  22. branch — a division
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — a country

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