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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — electric
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. game — a match
  5. current — happening now
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cap — a hat
  11. current — of water
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cap — a lid
  14. rule — a law
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rule — government
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — a line
  20. cap — of ice
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. row — to paddle
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. rule — to rule out

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