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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. current — of water
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. drill — army training
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. current — electric
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. drill — a practice
  15. current — happening now
  16. wake — a trail
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. stock — goods
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — the tool

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