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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · current · cold · press · wind · bat · pit · tube

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — moving air
  4. race — a contest
  5. current — electric
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — the animal
  9. press — a publisher
  10. pit — in a race
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. race — humankind
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tube — a container
  21. current — of water
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — moving air

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