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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. lie — to recline
  5. march — the month
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. land — to come down
  9. march — the month
  10. file — a tool
  11. land — a country
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. current — happening now
  17. march — music
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pass — a permit
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. land — ground
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. current — electric
  24. net — after costs

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