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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 120 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. prune — to trim
  3. current — of water
  4. ground — crushed
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. land — to come down
  8. current — electric
  9. rush — hurry
  10. ground — a position
  11. drill — army training
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. current — happening now
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. land — a country
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. land — ground
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ruler — for measuring

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