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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: cold · cell · current · dip · march · mug · game · bat

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mug — to rob
  3. game — a match
  4. mug — a face
  5. current — happening now
  6. cell — a phone
  7. current — electric
  8. current — of water
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cell — in biology
  18. game — wild animals
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. march — music
  21. mug — a cup
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cold — not warm
  24. dip — to sink

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