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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. pit — in a race
  3. spring — a coil
  4. current — of water
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. current — electric
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spring — of water
  10. staff — employees
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spring — the season
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pit — a hole
  16. current — happening now
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. fork — in a road
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. staff — employees

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