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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. vault — a safe
  3. current — of water
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pop — soda
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. net — in sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. current — electric
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. net — for catching
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pop — to visit
  21. current — happening now
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pop — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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