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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. current — electric
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — an illness
  6. current — happening now
  7. last — to go on
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. current — of water
  10. cold — not warm
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — music
  13. spell — a short time
  14. land — to come down
  15. last — finally
  16. swing — in golf
  17. land — ground
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spell — letters
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — a country
  24. last — final

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