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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 116 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. current — of water
  3. face — part of the head
  4. current — electric
  5. tube — the underground
  6. current — happening now
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. kid — to tease
  9. face — to confront
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. land — to come down
  12. tube — a container
  13. kid — child
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. present — a gift
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rash — hasty
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. land — a country
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. land — ground
  23. rash — a series
  24. present — the time now

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