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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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Word bank
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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: tear · pitcher · bound · cold · object · current · date · row

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bound — tied together
  4. date — the fruit
  5. bound — certain
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. current — happening now
  10. object — an aim
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tear — from crying
  13. row — a line
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — to paddle
  18. object — a thing
  19. current — electric
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. object — to protest
  24. bound — obliged

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