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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. march — music
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. rest — what's left
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. march — the month
  11. plane — a tool
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. current — happening now
  14. sharp — clever
  15. march — the month
  16. current — of water
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. rest — what's left
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — a break
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. current — electric
  24. straw — a straw man

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