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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. fall — to drop
  8. current — electric
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spell — magic
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. fall — the season
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. pass — a permit
  23. current — happening now
  24. current — of water

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