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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. last — finally
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — electric
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. saw — the tool
  8. object — a thing
  9. last — to go on
  10. saw — the tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. last — final
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. object — an aim
  16. object — to protest
  17. cold — an illness
  18. current — of water
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. row — a line
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. row — to paddle

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