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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. bound — obliged
  3. last — finally
  4. kid — child
  5. wound — an injury
  6. current — of water
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — certain
  9. bulb — for light
  10. last — to go on
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bulb — for light
  15. chest — a box
  16. wound — an injury
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. last — final
  19. roll — a cake
  20. chest — of your body
  21. current — electric
  22. kid — to tease
  23. roll — a list
  24. chest — of your body

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