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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 116 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: cold · cabinet · current · race · net · tear · pop · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. net — after costs
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pop — to visit
  5. current — happening now
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pop — music
  11. tear — to rip
  12. net — in sport
  13. race — humankind
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — electric
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — for catching
  19. tear — from crying
  20. current — of water
  21. race — a contest
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — soda
  24. race — the arms race

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