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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. present — a gift
  9. current — of water
  10. current — electric
  11. swing — music
  12. present — the time now
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. field — farmland
  18. current — happening now
  19. present — there
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. field — a subject
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. swing — to play on

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