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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. current — happening now
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. field — farmland
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — the season
  12. field — a subject
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. foot — a measure
  16. current — electric
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. current — of water
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. spring — a coil
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. net — after costs
  24. field — for sport

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